Delmege hires two top CEOs for consumer and healthcare clusters

Delmege, a diversified group of companies with a history spanning 140 years, is engaged in the business of retail distribution covering over 40,000 outlets in Sri Lanka while focusing on shipping, freight forwarding, interior suppliers, lifestyle products, medical and pharmaceuticals, imports and exports, insurance brokering, leisure and air services.

Delmage Forsyth & Co. Ltd. has appointed Ashan Kannangara as CEO – Consumer Cluster with from February 2013 whilst T. Sayandhan has been appointed as CEO of Healthcare Cluster.

Delmege, one of Sri Lanka’s leaders in branded packaged food marketing, specialises in retail and wholesale distribution. The company represents many global brands in addition to marketing few of their own.

With an island-wide network of distributors and partnerships, Delmege takes a large market share in the canned fish industry along with the Motha dessert range, including essences and colouring, TVP, tea, desserts, bakery products, and Ferrero Rocher confectionaries.

Ashan has nearly 28 years of experience in sales and marketing, holding various positions in multinationals and leading corporate sectors in Sri Lanka. He commenced his career at Singer Sri Lanka as District Manager and subsequently he was appointed the General Distribution and Channel Sales Manager at Pure Beverages Co. Ltd.

During the period 1995-1998, he was the Channel Sales Manager of Ole Spring Bottles Pvt. Ltd and thereafter he took on an assignment at Lanka Milk Foods (CWE) Ltd. as a National Sales Manager. He served at Three Coins for three years and joined Maliban Biscuits as Head of Sales in 2008 and was instrumental in the massive turnaround in sales performance. Ashan then with his versatile skill turned the company’s scale discipline making it result oriented and well focused.

He has core capabilities in multiple industries (FMCG and industrial), multiple categories (food, beverage and consumer durables), multiple channels (general trade, modern trade, hotels and industrial, distributor and routes to market), and multiple functions (field sales-general trade, key account management, industrial marketing, selling brand and category management).

CEO of the Healthcare Cluster Sayandhan has 21 years of experience in multinationals in the pharmaceutical industry working for Glaxo Ceylon Ltd., SmwithKline Beecham Ltd., GlaxoSmithKline (PH), and Hemas Pharmaceuticals Ltd., holding positions as Medical Representative, Hospital Coordinator, Product Executive, Brand Manager, Business Development Manager and Country Manager. He joined Hemas Pharmaceuticals as the Country Manager in 2012 taking overall business responsibilities for principal agents Allergan USA and Abbott Medical Optics USA. An old boy of Trinity College, Kandy and St. Anthony’s College, Kandy, Sayandhan holds an MBA from University of Peradeniya, Chartered Marketer status awarded by the CIM UK and Practicing Marketer from the SLIM. He is also a Fellow of the CIM UK, SLIM and Institute of Management of Sri Lanka. Delmege’s Healthcare Cluster comprises state-of-the-art medical equipment to cater to all requirements such as hospital, nursing home, medical centre or laboratory. From clinical/respiratory equipment to ICU equipment and radiology/radiotherapy equipment from laboratory equipment to physiotherapy equipment, the company has installed equipment in almost every major hospital and medical institution in Sri Lanka.

The other arm of Healthcare Cluster is pharmaceuticals, incorporated to tap into the lucrative pharmaceutical industry. The company is poised to be among the top five marketing, distribution and logistics providers of pharmaceuticals and healthcare services/products in Sri Lanka.

Its business model offers a countrywide distribution service to pharmaceutical companies with its own liaison office, local agents of foreign principals, and selected local manufacturers. The model also provides the total package of supply chain and logistics, marketing and distribution for foreign and local principals.