Thursday, 30 January 2014 00:00
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Sisil, Sri Lanka’s locally-made refrigerator which has become an endeared household name over the years celebrated its golden anniversary last year. The Sisil fridge, at 50, is regarded around the country by many as almost a family member withstanding season after season and year after year dutifully and tirelessly watching an entire generation grow up, get married and restart the cycle of life all over again.
In fact if one were to recall all things Sri Lankan, Sisil would very likely feature at the top of the list with special pride and place for untiring service; responding confidently to its hallmark as a symbol for trust and reliability and outperforming many of the global brands for a lifetime of service with ease. The story of Sisil is a classic, product fairytale that has survived the passage of time and continues to deliver its original theme of long-lasting value particularly at a stage when product life cycles are getting shorter.
The first Sisil refrigerator was launched on 4 April 1963, a result of engineer Gerry Wijesinghe’s experience on his way back from England where he envisioned to create a product locally that would be as good as any other product made in western countries. During that time, he was employed by GI who made refrigerators in Europe.
On his return to the island, Gerry set about manufacturing his own refrigerator but not with immediate success as investors believing in his vision were hard to come by. However, his persistence triumphed in the form of Sir Cyril de Soysa who regarded Gerry’s idea as a venture worthy of his money and so the production of the first Sisil commenced in 1963. Today as Sisil celebrates a golden jubilee it holds true to its fundamentals of high quality and long-lasting value.
Sisil has also expanded the model range to eight different models and now produces twelve other products under its brand name. With the power of the Sisil brand, in 2001 it was further extended to a retail brand, with the opening of Sisil world retail channel. The channel now comprises of 57 showrooms across the island and generates a turnover of Rs. 1.5 billion per annum. At the time of celebrating the 50th anniversary, Sisil started the search for the oldest Sisil Refrigerator to proudly present the celebrated loyal clientele to you. During a period of four months, the company received nearly 1,000 applications from Sisil fridge owners along with the details of the Sisil fridges which are still in working condition and even some having the warranty cards. As a result Sisil selected 10 proud owners of the oldest Sisil refrigerators. The company was proud to announce that there were owners from the 1st Sisil Refrigerator batch manufactured in 1963. The rest of the winners from 1963-1964, expressed their views about Sisil with their deepest emotions and love towards the brand. As a token of gratitude, along with the launch of the Sisil Eco refrigerator series, we have arranged to reward them with a brand new ECO Sisil refrigerator.
With new product innovation to the family of Sisil, launches the Sisil ECO Refrigerator with the conversion to the most energy efficient R600a refrigerant, LED lighting, Nutri-seal and copper tubing, Sisil not only delivers over 50% savings on power consumption and super-efficient cooling but comes home with all-round environment-friendliness in addition to superior reliability.
Pix by Sameera Wijesinghe
