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| Sunday, 16 October 2005 |
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JKH chairman spells out Cinnamon Hotels rebranding Sri Lanka produces 90% of the world's cinnamon production and it was the highest revenue earner for the country in 2003 fetching Rs. 4.3 billion. John Keells Holdings Ltd Chairman Vivendra Lintotawela told the opening ceremony of the Annual Sessions of the Spice Council that cinnamon is a gift from Sri Lanka to the world.It is rare, refined and exotic and this was the rationale behind rebranding their properties as Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts. He said that the brand will be launched at the World Travel Mart in London next month. Lintotawela said that the spice industry is customer driven and market oriented and smallholders play a major role with more than 70% owning less than one acre of land. Spice Council Chairman Sarada De Silva said that the Spice Council (TSC) is working on a program to register "Ceylon Cinnamon" through a certification mark registration under the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) law both locally and in the international markets. The industry is also seeking to protect the geographical identification for Ceylon cinnamon under the TRIPS agreement of the WTO. It is now included in the Intellectual Property Act. He said that former Chairman of the American Spice Traders' Association Derryck Cox will select five to six companies for a program to enter the US market with the assistance of the competitiveness program.We have selected three leading consultants to arrange for meetings with leading importers and processors in the US, De Silva said. Our intention is to encourage the plantation sector and the large corporate sector to invest in the spice industry. TSC is a joint initiative of the public and private sector stakeholders in the spice industry. It was set up as a result of a recommendation of the task force for the Spices and Allied Products sector under the Ministry of Enterprise Development. The establishment of TSC was supported by the Spice cluster of Competitiveness Initiative (TCI) of USAID.(SG) |
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