Edna chocolates back with more zest

Edna Chocolates which was last week cleared of melamine contamination will bounce back, said its Chairman Lal Edirisinghe.

He said that the long and tiring process to clear its name was not only a victory for the company but also a victory for the whole country as it was the country's image that was at stake. He said that they are still assessing the damage.

"All our products had to be pulled out and our international exports too were affected, but as soon as the verdict was given the traders put the products back on the shelves before we could inform them which is very encouraging. Therefore, we are confident that we can regain the market share we lost in double quick time.

General Manager Sales and Marketing, Thusitha Wijesinghe said that they enjoyed a 40 per cent market share and were confident of reaching this figure again. He said "since one supplier from Sri Lanka could not provide our requirement of milk powder we imported it from New Zealand, Australia and later China when there was no melamine issue."

When the controversy arose in China, Edna contacted the supplier who confirmed that the milk was not contaminated.

Later the Health Ministry, Consumer Affairs Authority and several other institutions took samples, which were all cleared. "In short, there were 46 tests conducted at different Laboratories including in India, China and Singapore and only one report stated that there was 1.5 PPM of melamine which is not above the 2.5 PPM danger mark.

Now everything is back to normal and we are happy and working tirelessly to regain our lost market share, said Wijesinghe. SG