C. W. Mackie and Denmark’s Co-ro in JV to produce Sunquick in Sri Lanka

Diversified manufacturing and trading company and Lankem Ceylon PLC subsidiary, C. W. Mackie (CWM), last week entered into a Rs.1.1 billion joint venture (JV) with Denmark-based soft drink giant, Co-ro A/S, to produce its popular ‘Sunquick’ brand in Sri Lanka.

Two limited liability companies, named Sunquick Lanka (Private) Limited, in which Co-ro will own 51 percent, and Sunquick Lanka Properties (Private) Limited, in which CWM will own 51 percent, will be established under the joint venture.

The purpose of the joint venture is to manufacture, process and market Sunquick concentrated fruit squash as well as ready-todrink products.

According to CWM directors, the joint venture with Co-ro has potential to be financially beneficial to CWM in the medium to long term.

Sunquick, which is CWM’S leading product range in its fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) portfolio, has around 70 percent of the market share in the fruit squash drinks category in Sri Lanka, with CWM bottling and distributing Sunquick in the country for the past 40 years as a franchise holder. For the 2016 financial year, the Sunquick brand grew by 29 percent yearon-year (YOY) in Sri Lanka.

The FMCG segment of CWM, which includes Sunquick, Scan Jumbo Peanuts, Scan Bottled Water, Kotagala Tea and KVC products as its main portfolio, posted a segmental profit of Rs.592.07 million for the nine months in the 2017 financial year, up from Rs.554 million YOY. The segmental revenue increased to Rs.3.93 billion from Rs.3.37 billion YOY. Co-ro, which was founded in 1942, sells its popular Sunquick, Sun Lolly and Suntop fruit-based brands in over 70 countries. In 2015, it posted revenue of DKK 1.95 billion and a pre-tax profit of DKK 326 million. (DKK 1 = US $ 0.14)