Move to increase production

Fonterra to train dairy farmers

Lalin FERNANDOPULLE

Fonterra Brands Lanka which launched the Rs. 1.2 billion yoghurt manufacturing plant at Biyagama early this week will increase the collection of milk by 8,000 litres per day to support the local dairy industry.

Managing Director, Fonterra Brands Lanka, Achyut Reddy said the company has already invested in three milk collection centres and equipment that will help collect milk from over 3000 farmers.The company collects over 35,000 litres of milk per day and produces around six million yoghurt cups a day. Fonterra Brands has been in Sri Lanka for over 25 years and has operations in over 140 countries.

"We will invest in educational programs and technical training to help local dairy farmers to increase production by improving pasture yields and better breeding" Reddy said.

The new manufacturing plant will help increase the production capacity by 40 per cent and meet the country's growing demand for nutritional products", he said.

Fonterra Brands, Regional Managing Director, Mark Wilson said Sri Lanka is an important market for Fonterra and it is the company's third largest market.

"Despite challenging times an investment of this magnitude is encouraging and will help develop the country's dairy industry", he said. Trade,Marketing Development, Cooperative and Consumer Services Minister Bandula Gunawardena said exports have dropped by 11 per cent and imports by 50 per cent as a result of the global financial crisis.

"Various groups wanting to take political advantage, is criticising the government for its failure to manage the economy.

The closure of factories is not due to the bad management of the government but due to the adverse impact of the global financial crisis", he said.