Pelwatte celebrates the nutrient Staple ‘Milk’; The World Milk Day 2020

June 1st commemorates the World Milk Day. This year is the 20th Anniversary since the event was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to recognize the importance of milk as a global food, as well as to celebrate the dairy sector.

“Pelwatte, as one of the leading local dairy manufacturers believes that, ‘The World Milk Day’ polarizes the focus on tackling malnutrition amongst the publics. In fact, one of the key reasons to celebrate the ‘World Milk Day’ is to highlight the importance of the nutritional value of milk and how it can be utilized to address malnutrition amongst the Sri Lankans. other words, this day brings our attention to recognize the importance of this global nutrient staple and how it is such an imperative part of our diet,” stated Akmal Wickramanayake, Managing Director of Pelwatte, discussing the importance of the World Milk Day,

Despite the calamities of the COVID19 pandemic, the demand for dairy products never faltered. A visible increased of the demand in the related fields such as dairy education, veterinary pharmaceuticals, research, and cattle food supply has been evident by the fact that the dairy sector’s ever growing expansion. Addressing the need in these areas would in turn enable the high end local dairy production and allow Sri Lanka to reach local self-sufficiency in the dairy industry.

As a staple food available at practically any grocery store, milk is one of those foods people tend to take for granted. Milk with its nine essential nutrients is considered a staple food, technically able to support human life with the addition of any other food groups to balance it out. Milk being the very first food for infants and remaining as a common source of nutrition throughout adult lives speaks volumes on the importance of having a consistent dairy product supply in the country.

This is mainly due to the fact that milk and dairy products can be important in diversifying the diet. They are nutrient dense and provide high quality protein and micronutrients in an easily absorbed form that can benefit both nutritionally vulnerable people and healthy people when consumed in appropriate amounts. It is important to recognize that a combination of food is necessary for a healthy diet and that milk and dairy products are not the only sources of essential nutrients. Milk is a major source of dietary energy, high-quality protein and fat. It can make a significant contribution to meeting the required nutrient intakes of calcium, magnesium, selenium, riboflavin, vitamin B12 and pantothenic acid. Milk from some animal species can also be a source of zinc and vitamins A, C, D and B6. Bioavailability of some nutrients in milk, for example calcium, is high compared with that in other foods in the diet.

The dairy industry also improves the livelihood of hundreds and thousands of people around the world. Pelwatte dairy has been pursuing the goals of uplifting the socio economic status of the local dairy farmers and making the country self-sufficient in milk production. As such, Pelwatte has been consistently delivering international quality products of liquid milk, milk powder, yoghurt, butter, ice cream and as well as cow ghee. With the objective of “reducing the outflow of foreign exchange for importing milk powder from New Zealand & other countries”.

The company is engaged in producing milk products of international quality & the Flagship Pelwatte brand enjoys the complete confidence of customers. Pelwatte is the proud owners of a most modern dairy factory, established under the Danish technology, The Pelwatte dairy processing factory is the first factory of its magnitude in the island with ISO 22000-2005 system certification.

Thereby Pelwatte strives on making sure Sri Lankan consume more milk to our-come the dietary inconsistencies. At 13%, Sri Lanka’s level of chronic malnutrition, or stunting, is among the lowest in the region. However, the same cannot be said for acute malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies – where individuals lack vital vitamins and minerals. The 2012 national nutrition survey found that, with a 19.6% prevalence of wasting, Sri Lanka was ranking third in the world, only behind Djibouti and South Sudan. High levels of acute malnutrition – ranging between 14 and 35 percent – were found across all 25 districts surveyed. Milk is a nutrient that can be used as an alternative protein source, as such it can be used to address local malnutrition issues.

World Food Program’s initiatives in Sri Lanka has focused on the decrease of malnutrition in Sri Lankan context, this goes in line with the fact that milk is a protein substitute, which has been proven to be an important factor in the child growth and cognitive development as well. Thereby Pelwatte is on the forefront of promoting inclusion of milk and dairy products in meals of the locals to support this initiative.

Under the above context Pelwatte has taken up the initiative to broaden the access of local consumers to milk via 3 main segments;

1.General Trade – The company covers 20,000 outlets in 13 districts after identifying the market potential and sales potential, the company targets for island-wide distribution of Pelwatte products after the increase in production efficiency by the end of 2020.

2.Modern Trade - Pelwatte engages in modern trade covering the all super market chains and SMMT in western province.

3.Food Service (HORECA) – The company also distributes milk to all key hotel chains, restaurant and catering specially with products such as fresh cream, Butter, Ice cream, Ghee and yoghurt. As of 2nd week of May Pelwatte plans to commercialize portion butter as well. Pelwatte was also the gold sponsor of culinary art exhibition, 2019 in BMICH (conducted by Chef association in Sri Lanka). With all these mediums, Pelwatte has been able to become an active advocate of dairy sustenance in the country. In addition, Pelwatte also engages in constant research and development to manufacture product variants that caters to the demands of kids, teens, middle age and elders market. The Pelwatte R & D division has successfully catered and finalized several innovative products and they will be introduced to the local market in upcoming months.

Pelwatte has devised a strategic plan on expanding market share before the interruption of the Covid 19 pandemic, which in turn established the need of a self-sufficient dairy manufacturing industry in Sri Lanka. The key obstacle for Pelwatte in achieving this target is due to the issues surrounding the collection of raw milk in the country. This is mostly due to the limited resources available for the farmers, whereby the dairy farmers are unable to supply to the company requirements.

This is key issue that needs to be addressed as all Pelwatte products are made in dairy base and especially the frozen range is developed with 100 % dairy fats, with nature identical flavours. In addition, the flagship Pelwatte full cream milk powder, is produced using a mechanism that allows to complete the production process within 48 to 72 hours. In the next 24 hours anyone in the Pelwatte distribution regions have access to the product and taste with a guaranteed freshness of the product in comparison to the imported milk powder.

Pelwatte has seen an increased demand in certain areas with retailers ordering a high quantity, which in turn makes the product fast moving item and as such would project a scarcity of the product in some instances.

In order to minimize these kind of circumstances, Pelwatte maintains 7 outlets across Sri Lanka. The customers could also obtain additional information or www.pelwattedairy.com of the Pelwatte Dairy Facebook page.