‘Road to Regen’ interchange community event celebrates sustainable food and agriculture visionaries

The event welcomed attendees from Sri Lanka’s melting pot of local communities

Brands showcasing their products at the ‘Road to Regen’ community event, held at Barefoot Garden Cafe

Good Life X, a catalyst dedicated to fostering innovation and regeneration, together with GIZ Sri Lanka and the EU, hosted the Road to Regen Interchange Community Event recently at the picturesque and consciously minded, Barefoot Garden Cafe. 

The event celebrated the culmination of the ‘Road to Regen’ accelerator program, which focuses on infusing innovation and regenerative practices to strengthen the regenerative organic agriculture ecosystem and mitigate food security risks in Sri Lanka.

The Road to Regen accelerator program aimed to make small-scale food and agribusinesses future-proof, globally competitive and overall regenerative. 

The event showcased six carefully selected companies that participated in the program. Namely Blackpool Coffee – A legacy brand from Nuwara Eliya, Blackpool Coffee rekindles the passion for premium Ceylon coffee blends; Midigama Fruit Farm - An organic fruit forest championing biodiversity and ecological health; Dev’s Vanilla Plantation, Nursery, and Training Centre - An organic vanilla plantation with a commitment to sustainability and quality; Posha Crunch - A pioneering brand offering healthy baby and toddler snacks sourced from local ingredients; iGrow Lanka - An integrated smart farm in Mullaitivu contributing to sustainable, technology-based cultivation and local farmer support; and Herbal Care Industries - Reviving ancient herbal formulations for modern wellness products.

The event witnessed the six participating companies engage with varying members of the community and invitees. Attendees had the opportunity to interact with the companies, explore their products and services and provide valuable feedback and insight.

In addition, the event featured a thought-provoking keynote speech on the topic, “Avocado Toast and Climate Change” addressing the Millennial Demand’s Inadvertent Climate Cost delivered by Rohan Pethiyagoda. The keynote explored the ripple effects of consumer demands on biodiversity and climate change, with a focus on sustainable agricultural practices and local nutrition.

Following the keynote, attendees engaged in a lively discussion, exchanging insights and ideas on ways to advance climate resilience at the local level. The event concluded on a high note and attendees were encouraged to visit the companies’ booths once again, enjoy live music and continue conversations into the night.

Blackpool Coffee Entrepreneur Asitha Jayasinghe said: “Regeneration can come only through a change of heart in the individual. And the daily coffee intake of an individual will directly enhance their capacity for self-development of themselves. We are glad that it was possible to introduce our products to a whole new market through the community event held at the Barefoot. It was seen that the audience visiting our stall were the perfect customers that our products seek, and we were able to have a good onsite sale and also built some solid relationships with customers for the long term. We thank the GLX team for organising and facilitating the event which helped our company at its best.” 

The Road to Regen is supported by the ‘Support to Small and Medium Enterprises in the Organic Agriculture Sector’ program is the Multi-Donor Action (MDA) jointly co-financed by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The MDA is carried out as part of the ‘Small and Medium Sector Enterprise Development Program’ implemented by GIZ Sri Lanka.