Fonterra Lanka launches another dairy innovation focussed on heart health
To help Sri Lankan adults live their lives to the fullest, Fonterra Brands Sri Lanka, the company behind Anchor, has launched another country first with its latest dairy innovation focused on heart health.
Anchor Life low fat milk powder has been specially formulated with plant sterols to help reduce blood cholesterol and provide Omega-3 fatty acids, dietary fibre, and other important vitamins and minerals for heart health. It is the first specialised adult dairy productin Sri Lanka to include an ingredient that reduces blood cholesterol.
The dairy co-operative introduced Anchor Life on the back of an Adult Market Usage and Attitude study in 2015,undertaken by Tns,which revealed one of the key health concernsamong ageing Sri Lankans washigh cholesterol, among other issues such as blood pressure and high sugar intake.
Alongside this research, Fonterra polled nearly 5,000 Sri Lankans on how they perceived getting older as impacting their lives. A concerning 48 percent of those surveyed reported that age has been a barrier to pursuing what they love. Interestingly,most respondents (53 per cent)said they stopped following their heart ataround 30 to 40 years, believing that reaching this age did impact their lives.
Managing Director of Fonterra Brands Sri Lanka and the Indian Subcontinent, Sunil Sethi, said understanding these growing health concernsrevealed a need to provide Sri Lankans with more support around healthy ageing, and, in particular, heart health.
“At Fonterra, we know that age does not have to be a barrier to following your heart, and that signs of slowing down with age should not stop you from living life to the fullest. This inspired us to look at a product that would support these nutritional requirements,” said Sethi.
“This is a new space for Anchor and in fact, for the entire country as it is the first specialised adult dairy productin Sri Lanka with added plant sterols to focus on cholesterol reduction,” said Sethi.
Sethi said the latest dairy product is part of Fonterra’s ongoing commitment to meeting the evolving, nutritional needs of Sri Lankans throughout their life stages.
In line with the recent World Heart Day last week, Sethi introduced the new innovation during a panel discussion with Mahela Jayawardene, where panelists focused on the importance of combining good nutrition with healthy lifestyles for better heart health.
Kicking off the panel, Mahela Jayawardena encouraged Sri Lankans to continue to follow their hearts, despite their age. An entrepreneur, husband, father, and still ever present in the cricketing world, Mahela shared why he continues to follow his heart. Having retired from playing international cricket, he shows no signs of slowing down and shared his passionon encouraging others to also live lives to the fullest.
Also joining the panel was Fonterra Brand Sri Lanka Director for Research & Development, Food Safety, Quality and Nutrition for Fonterra Brands Sri Lanka, Manish Singh.
“Empowering communities out of poverty – for real. For good. That has been our business for 40 years here in Sri Lanka,” says Dhanan Senathirajah, National Director for World Vision in Sri Lanka.
“However, as a childcentred agency, children are always at the heart of our work because they are the best indicator of a community’s social health. When children are fed, sheltered, schooled, protected, valued, and loved, a community thrives. So, everything we do has just one goal: the sustained well-being of children, especially the most vulnerable.”
Senathirajah who brings a fresh infusion of ideas, hailing from the corporate world, believes that economic development for communities is key to progress – “Once economic empowerment happens, other areas work out. To make the development sustainable, we need to help parents have a stable income. Then they are able to support the well-being of their children without compromise” He says.
Since 1977, World Vision has been actively involved in community development with interventions in Health & Nutrition, Water& Sanitation, Education and Economic Developmentwith child wellbeing as an underlying feature.
Key to a successful development programme lies in its sustainability, he adds. “Our programmes are long term (15- 20 years), participatory and communitybased. The community is involved from beginning to end in the whole process of identifying issues that hinder their development and working towards sustainable solutions. The people are the stakeholders and the beneficiaries, which adds value to their contribution towards the project’s success. During this time the community is equipped to envision, plan, implement, monitor and evaluate the projects in an interdependent relationship with local governments and other stakeholders. Once they are stable enough to continue the development work, we will move out and the community will take over. We have 12 such programmes that are now run by the community. This year we have handed over four,” he says.
‘’For the people, it is a symbolic as well as an emotional moment when the project is given over to the community. Because the project has left a lasting impact on their lives and has benefitted them, they feel a close bond with it and are motivated to take it forward,” he says, “For us, it is the most rewarding moment to see a community empowered – women participating in decision making, children with special needs are accepted and have accessibility and youth are ready to take leadership.”
With projects in 22 out of the 25 districts, World Vision has also been instrumental in providing humanitarian assistance in emergencies such as the tsunami, floods and drought as well as in the post war context. “As first responders to crisis situations, we have global expertise and readiness in meeting the immediate needs under such circumstances. We are often the first to enter and the last to leave. We not only focus on the immediate needs but we also look at long term recovery and disaster risk reduction by making communities disaster-ready,” says Senathirajah.
He believes that as a global organization with best practices and established work norms, coupled with a local outreach and grass root presence, World Vision has the kind of accountability and potential, which draws corporates to partner for community development work. “Today, we see a tremendous transformation in the way CSR is viewed in the corporate world which speaks well for community development as an opportunity to transform lives.”
World Vision Lanka’s work in the sphere of child protection is significant. Among some of World Vision’s projects are shelters for street children. “The children are referred to the Project through the Child Care and Probation Services. While providing them a place of safety and care, the projects also focus on their psycho-social needs. The project’s main aim is to reintegrate the children with their families and focuses on the rehabilitation of parents as well,” he says.
“World Vision will continue to journey with communities until we see every family out of poverty and vulnerability. I want to thank everyone who has partnered and will partner with us in transforming their lives. We greatly appreciate your trust in us,” he said in conclusion.