Link Natural promotes ancient Ayurveda via modern healthcare products

Saturday, 19 July 2014 01:14 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Under super hygienic conditions

Link Natural Products Chairman Dewapriya Nugawela

I was fortunate to be invited to see for myself why Link Natural Products were awarded the ISO 9001 ISO 14001 certification by the International Organisation for Standardisation and HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) which is a systematic preventive approach to food safety from biological, chemical and physical hazards in production process and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification. ISO 9001 which deals in quality management, requires an organisation to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products that meet customer and regulatory requirements and continual improvement of same. ISO 14001 is awarded to companies that put environmental management in the heart of its operations. As related by Link Natural Chairman and CEO Dewapriya Nugawela, the company came to be when he found that a pot of ayurvedic decoction prepared by a local veda mahattaya contained maggots. Nugawela was engaged in the construction industry at that time. The experiment which resulted in the production of a hygienic decoction was the birth of Link Natural Products Ltd. Link Natural sources all its raw materials from its own cultivations or contracted cultivators locally which ensures the continuous supply of unadulterated quality materials or imported through reputed firms abroad. Whatever the source of supply, the raw material is given a reference number and quarantined on arrival. Next, samples are checked for quality and adulteration at Links laboratory which plays a major role in ensuring that the various stages of the manufacturing process is in consistency of the recipe as well as conducting research for improvement of the product. After being certified as the correct raw material it is physically checked for adulterous products may it be a pebble or blade of grass before being sent to the store room which contains hundreds and hundreds of varieties of raw materials some I had never seen of or heard of before. Ingredients are stored in ideal conditions until such time they are requisitioned for the manufacture of Link Natural’s range of products or for research by the laboratory. The manufacturing process differs in keeping with ancient ayurvedic recipes and some brews were seen bubbling in copper pots while some were going through extraction process in stainless steel towers. “Much time and money is spent by Link Natural on research. Ancient ayurveda recipes are prepared by using modern methods and equipment under super hygienic conditions. It took four years of research and experimentation before Samahan was introduced to the market,” said Nugawela. I was shown the production line where 6.4 million 4 gram sachets of ‘Samahan’ Link Natural’s world famous preventive medication for the common cold is packed each month. I saw Link Natural’s toothpaste ‘Sudantha’ being filled into tubes automatically and being packed for the market. I watched workers bottle ‘Kesha’ and ‘Hair Care Cool’ two of Link’s hair care range. I was shown Link Natural’s range of products packed for the local market as well as for export, including the cosmetic and spa range ‘Earth Essence’. While Assistant Production Manager at Link Natural’s factory at Dompe, Lakshmi Rajapaksha was narrating the manufacturing process of each item I observed how the workers complied to the high hygienic standards set by the company before entering their respective departments. Not only that they complied with personal hygiene the utensils and a factory premise was spick and span and in my opinion the management and staff of Link Natural richly deserve all the certification that they have received.

Link Natural promotes ancient Ayurveda via modern healthcare products

Link Natural Products Chairman Dewapriya Nugawela

Quality control and research

Raw materials being cleansed

Lakshmi Rajapakse explains how the herbal toothpaste is made

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