Marketing ‘Made in Sri Lanka’ to the world

By virtue of a country’s bio diversity, natural climatic conditions, heritage and cultural diversity, many commodities and products are available that would have appeal to customers in other countries. Whilst these are often traded, there is an opportunity for greater value creation by protecting their source of origin, so that similar products from another region cannot unfairly trade on the reputation that has been built.

Every nation in the world has such valuable intangible assets that it has inherited either through its eco system or unique arts and crafts that it has built over centuries of tradition. These exported products add to building the perceptions around a nation’s brand. In order to extract the hidden value however, there is much that needs to be done in order to protect, regulate and manage for effective global marketing.    

Some well known examples of how this has worked are the way the French Wine industry has generated billions of dollars and there are also smaller famous location brands, like Parma ham and Parma cheese which come from the city of that same name or Alaskan seafood, Colombian Coffee, Roquefort Cheese and many more examples.  

The means of protecting these assets are complex as can be seen in the Kobe beef example which refers to beef from the Tajima strain of Wagyu cattle, raised in Japan’s Hyogo Prefecture according to rules as set out by the Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association.

Branding strategies centring on the geographical origins of a product is a key basis for differentiating commodity products. And the use of such ‘geographical indications’ (or GIs) can involve unique quality characteristics associated with a particular location or quality images that are based on the history, tradition, and folklore in a region. This geographical indication (GI) could be a name or sign used on certain products which corresponds to that specific geographical location or origin (which could be a town, region, or country). The GI tag ensures that none other than those registered as authorised users (or at least those residing inside the geographic territory) are allowed to use the popular product name. 

For example, ‘Bordeaux’ is a GI for wine originating from the region of Bordeaux in the south of France, where it has been produced since the eighth century. Similarly, ‘Tequila’ is a GI for liquor originating from the town of Tequila in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, where the liquor has been produced for over 200 years. Other examples of GIs include ‘Champagne’, ‘Darjeeling Tea’ and ‘Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee’.

This is the battle that Sri Lanka has been fighting in the tea and cinnamon front for many decades. The duplication of Ceylon cinnamon by cheaper and inferior cassia has impacted Ceylon cinnamon’s ability to charge a premium, which is only now being recognised in many global markets as being a much more superior product. Similarly, the deterioration of the Ceylon tea geographic origin name is because of its uncontrolled use (primarily by multinationals) over many decades by resorting to blending of Ceylon tea with various teas originating from other countries. Sri Lanka’s inability to manage the unregulated use of the Ceylon name in tea has thus impacted the perceived value of it over the years. Instead, we have had to resort to the registered Ceylon Tea trademark with the lion symbol for protection, which is too little too late.   

Establishing the system for GI registration however means the right legislation needs to be put into place by our own Government. Sri Lanka must first recognise its own GIs and to establish relevant laws to govern the procedures. This requires an amendment to be made to the Sri Lanka Intellectual Property Act which is governed by the National Intellectual property office (NIPO).

However, despite years of lobbying by various commercial, national industrial bodies and chambers the simple task of amending this act has yet to take place by successive Governments. 

Besides tea and cinnamon there is massive potential for economic value creation through other products which are unique to Sri Lanka and with strong geographical origins such as Sri Lanka crabs, Ceylon arrack. This could be followed subsequently by Ceylon Sapphire, Dumbara mats just to name a few, once legislation spreads to non agricultural products.

The European Union is currently spearheading the establishment of GI status for non agricultural produce as it is rich in products based on traditional knowledge and production methods, which are often rooted in the cultural and social heritage of a particular geographical location, from Bohemian crystal, Murano glass and Scottish tartans to Carrara marble

Meanwhile, India has registered over 200 products in its own GI register. 

The most famous one being Djareeling tea and some interesting ones such as Mysore silk, Feni (alcoholic beverage manufactured in Goa – equivalent to arrack), Blue pottery of Jaipur, Kashmir Pashmina, Nashik Grapes, Firozabad glass.

The Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, had a very interesting battle when it scored a legal victory with being awarded GI status as the Geographical Indications Registry upheld its claim of registration for the famous Tirupatiladdu!

Historically, there has been no uniform approach to the protection of GIs. Countries have adopted various legal principles and statues to ensure the domestic protection of GIs. Whilst some countries have enacted specific legislation to protect GIs, some afford protection under existing laws governing trademarks; and others use a combination of both. 

An international framework for the protection of GIs has evolved over time, beginning with the Paris Convention followed by the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of origin. Sri Lanka has to accede to Lisbon to get worldwide protection; otherwise we have to apply to individual countries which becomes a very cumbersome process. 

Whilst Sri Lanka’s immediate challenge is to go through the legal process of amending the Intellectual Properties Act, there is a need for the Government to establish policies, mechanisms designed to identify products with potential for GI registration, to raise awareness of society and to offer support for acquisition and exploration of new GI’s.

It is therefore an on-going and active process and not one that ends with legislation being passed. It us up to individual entrepreneurs to recognise the potential that a GI product could have and then enhance it further through modern research and development which are relevant to global markets, thereby adding value to the inherent opportunity. The end goal should be to identify such potential GI products and turn them into ‘brands’ that global markets would pay a premium for.  

(Ruchi Gunewardene is the Managing Director of Brand Finance Lanka and Sarada De Silva is the President of the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka).