AMBEWELA DAIRY FARMS ventures into Rs.1 bn worth investment

Lanka Milk Foods has ventured into new fields in keeping with the country’s need for hygienically produced milk products, in addition to marketing the well renowned brand of full cream milk powder ‘Lakspray’ and they have through their subsidiaries introduced many new products that cater to the market.

In 2001 Lanka Milk Foods leased out the Ambewela and Pattipola Dairy Farms and over the last seven years have shown vast improvements in the quality of milk , which is now manufactured up to the best standards in Western Europe , Australia and New Zealand. The yield of milk per cow has increased by 50% over this period. These significant achievements have been recognized by the Department of Agriculture, which in the year 2007 awarded Pattipola farm the title of ‘The Best Large Scale Dairy Farm in Sri Lanka’ and Pattipola also has the honour of having the title of ‘The Best European Cow in Sri Lanka’ amongst its herd. Director Finance and Administration, Ambewela Farms Ranjit Attygalle says, ‘The lush green fields where the cows graze in the cool and misty climate of Nuwara Eliya provides an ideal environment to produce the best quality milk. In addition, the herd is under the supervision of a resident Veterinary Surgeon and the feed given to them other than grass is based on a formula specially designed by professionals in this field. To supplement this feed we have improved the quality of the grass at the farms by importing 16 consignments of Rye Grass Seeds from New Zealand, in the face of numerous obstacles. High quality cattle semen imported from New Zealand ensures that the breed of the herd is constantly up-graded to be on par with international standards. Ambewela Dairy Farms is the market leader in liquid milk production in Sri Lanka, and produces quality fresh milk from ‘Ayrshires’ and ‘Friesians’, both high yielding European breeds of cattle".

"As most of you are aware, nutritive quality of milk is extremely sensitive. Thus, Alfa Laval milking machinery is used at our farms for automated milking, in order to prevent the introduction of any kind of bacteria in the milk. Bacteria in milk will double in twenty minutes. In other words, if left un-refrigerated, after a few hours the milk becomes coloured water without any nutritional value. In order to prevent this problem, the milk at our farms is immediately chilled to 4 degrees centigrade, and the chilled milk is thereafter transported to our factory in Welisara in temperature controlled bowzers. These procedures ensure that our milk maintains a bacteria count below 100,000 units per millilitre which is equivalent to the bacterial count in milk produced in Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. We can also proudly say that Ambewela milk is untouched by human hands from the udder of the cow until it is poured in to a glass at your home."

Ambewela Products (Pvt) Ltd was formed with a long term vision to improve the dairy industry in Sri Lanka. We have embarked on an initiative of national importance and are in the process of setting up a brand new state-of-the-art Dairy Plant, one of a kind in South Asia with an investment worth over Rs.1 billion. The dairy plant is scheduled to be completed and begin operations by December this year. With the new plant, Ambewela Farms are ready to take a giant leap forward by giving consumers a wide variety of milk packs and dairy products such as Cheese and Yoghurt, which is manufactured up to the highest international standards. This plant has a capacity to produce 9.6 million litres of milk and milk based products, thus easing the dependence Sri Lanka currently has on imported full cream milk powder.

Director Marketing, Mr. Lal Saranapala says that the "Dairy Industry in Sri Lanka is in its infancy. Thus, we cannot continue to rely on importing full cream milk powder when the prices keep on escalating. Sri Lanka’s requirement of liquid milk is around 1 billion litres per year, and we currently import about 60,000 MTs of milk powder per annum which is 80% of our requirement, thus draining valuable foreign exchange from our country. Our goal is to contribute, in no small measure , to improve the dairy industry in this country, and we have made this huge investment as patriotic corporate citizens in order to commit to the improvement of the national dairy industry. Our current portfolio of fresh and flavoured milk products available in 200ml and 1 litre packs are Ambewela Fresh Milk, and the Daily brand flavoured milk in Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Banana, and Iced Coffee flavours.

"I am also pleased to announce the introduction of two new refreshing flavours available for the first time in Sri Lanka, namely Kulfi and Faluda. I am certain these two flavours will be a hit with consumers. Children need a high in take of milk in order to build strong bones and retain enough calcium in their bodies for later years. Our flavoured milk under the brand name ‘Daily’ makes drinking milk fun as well as nutritious.

"There is no doubt that Lanka Milk Foods and its subsidiaries, Lanka Dairies Limited, Ambewela and Pattipola Farms and Ambewela Products Limited are moving in the right direction by providing Sri Lankan consumers with the best quality milk and developing the dairy industry to avoid dependence on imported full cream milk powder."