CBL named Most Outstanding Exporter of the Year

Ceylon Biscuits Limited (CBL), the manufacturers of Munchee Biscuits and a number of other well-known food and confectionary products, was the Most Outstanding Exporter of the Year at the 20th Annual NCE Exporter Awards held recently.

The company altogether received three Gold awards in recognition of excellence in exports and as such  the Gold award for Most Outstanding Exporter among all the exporters as well as Most Outstanding Exporter in Industry sector and Most Outstanding Exporter in the Confectionery and Beverage subsector.

Currently, Ceylon Biscuits Limited is the largest manufacturer exporter of biscuits, wafers, chocolates, snack foods, cakes and soya in Sri Lanka. Over the last 10 years, the company has achieved a growth of 2,000% in exports.

As a result, CBL has won many export awards including the Presidential Award for three consecutive years. In order to cater to growing demand in the export market, CBL recently set up a new factory dedicated to exports at the Seethawaka Export Processing Zone at a cost of Rs. 1.3 billion.

Speaking about the latest achievement of winning three gold awards at the NCE Export Awards, Jude Rubera, General Manager – Exports of CBL, said that receiving these awards symbolises the CBL’s excellence in exports and its contribution towards the economy.

“We secured the prestigious most outstanding exporter of the year award by overtaking many traditional exporters. The success of our flagship brand Munchee has largely contributed towards this award,” added Rubera. He noted that Munchee exports 800-900 metric tons per month to more than 45 countries in all six continents.

The contenders for this top honour were evaluated on the basis of comprehensive criteria which encompassed many key business operational factors, social responsibility and good governance aspects. “It was an all-round evaluation,” Rubera observed.

The stipulated criteria for evaluation covered export turnover, growth in export turnover, consistency of exports, employee welfare, value addition, compliance with statutory and other regulations and adherence to quality certifications.

In addition, areas like new market penetration, product innovations and brand penetration have been critically evaluated. Munchee is well known for its product innovations and as a company, CBL introduces a number of new products under different product ranges to the local as well as export markets every year.

“One of the key areas that have been looked at was whether the company had achieved continuous growth in export turnover,” Rubera stressed. “As a company, we have continuously penetrated into new markets.”

The approach of the company towards the corporate social responsibility has also been an important criterion in selecting winners for the NCE Awards. CBL is very strong in its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in the areas of arts and culture, education, sports, community upliftment, corporate philanthropy, disaster response and infrastructure development. Rubera pointed out that the company’s greater focus is on education.

The Munchee Tikiri Shishyadhara (prevention of early school dropouts) is another key CSR project of CBL. For years, early school dropouts were a common problem throughout the country, despite the country providing free education. One of the common reasons behind children abandoning their school is the loss of a breadwinner of the family or due to the family splits. He said that under this program, seven students have already gained admission to university. A student from Trincomalee had entered medical college which is a unique achievement as these students were amongst the school dropouts who resumed their education.

Munchee supports the upliftment of community living standards through ‘Munchee Samaga Gamata Sarana’ as an ongoing CSR project. The objective is to give back to society a part of the company’s profits. CBL donates libraries, computers and conducts drinking water projects amongst many other community development initiatives.

“We have been able to win an avalanche of accolades over the years and reach the apex of success because of the profound commitment of our employees. We believe our employees remain the secret behind this success story of our crowing success as a stringent force that work tirelessly and committed towards working hand in hand with the growth of the organization,” Rubera emphasised.

In a spectacular feat, Munchee recently bagged the CMO Asia Best Employee Brand of the Year 2012 International Award for the second consecutive time and CNCI  Crystal  Award for Industrial Excellence.