Business
Cuisine Gastronome by Sri Lankan Catering bags three Gold Awards at the Sri Lanka Packaging Awards 2021

Illustrating the power of storytelling, clear communication and design elegance, ‘Cuisine Gastronome’, the heat and eat gastronomic product of SriLankan Catering, won three Gold Awards for its product packaging at the Sri Lanka Packaging Awards 2021. The packaging concept of Cuisine Gastronome appeals to the target audience with the clear and inspired design conveying a sense of gourmet food and fine dining, in the comfort of one’s home. Cuisine Gastronome clinched the three Gold Awards in the categories; ‘Food Packaging’, ‘Innovation’ and ‘Packaging that Saves the Food’. As a result, Cuisine Gastronome qualified for the World Star and Asia Star awards conducted by the World Packaging Organization.
Prestigious World Star and Asia Star awards honour companies with innovative and creative packaging designs for their products, taking into consideration areas of construction and materials usage, design, innovation technology and environmental consciousness.
“As the sole airline caterer to operate from BIA Katunayake, we at Sri Lankan Catering always exceled in culinary expertise. We have been catering to major international airlines such as Emirates, Qatar and Turkish Airlines. As an award-winning catering company, we remain steadfastly committed to the high quality of food, safety and hygiene standards. Hence, producing high quality consumer products was simply an extension of our existing excellence. We first launched Cuisine Gastronome during the first lockdown, when our revenue sources were fast dwindling due to the pandemic. But, it was challenging to reach out to our new customer base. We knew we had to maximize customer convenience to prepare the food within minutes while also retaining the nutritional integrity and flavours of our products. We are glad to have partnered on this project with the Dentsu Grant team who guided us from the very inception to the execution phase – their support in conducting research and benchmark studies across a number of areas supported us in understanding our audiences during challenging times.
The product soon captured consumer interest and we were able to reach the global market as well. The positioning of Cuisine Gastronome – ‘It’s Fine Home Dining’ beautifully captured the brand essence as well as the product promise we wanted to deliver to a discerning group of consumers,” said Mangala Wijesekara, Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan Catering.
“Packaging is not a communication piece that conveys product information alone. It is the spokesperson for the brand at the point of purchase – the key moment of truth. Packaging has to tie in all the aspects of a brand – the brand positioning, its values, emotional connection, consumer benefits, and the product promise creating a distinct brand experience that the target audience can believe in. It was a great pleasure working with SLC, building the next global Sri Lankan brand,” said Sajith Weerasinghe, Chief Strategy Officer at Dentsu Grant Group.
Sri Lankan Catering first launched Cuisine Gastronome in Sri Lanka. However, within a small-time frame, the product reached international markets, gaining popularity in Australia and the USA. The Company plans on making Cuisine Gastronome available across the globe, especially targeting markets with a sizeable Sri Lankan Diaspora.
Business
CSE expected to maintain growth momentum in the wake of brighter IMF bailout hopes

By Hiran H.Senewiratne
The CSE will be able to maintain its growth momentum with IMF bailout prospects brightening this week. Consequently, foreign inflows to the CSE will improve in the future, Head-Market Development, CSE, Niroshan Wijesundara said.
“To date the CSE has been able to register a 14 per cent growth and with the IMF bailout approval we could expect more foreign inflows into the market, Wijesundera told the Island Financial Review.
Amidst these developments the market ended on a positive note at the end of yesterday. Initially there were mild profit- takings but this did not negatively impact the overall performance of the market.
Accordingly, shares edged up in mid-day trade yesterday while investors adopted a wait- and -see approach as the country looked forward to IMF approval on the Extended Fund Facility towards the end of this week.
“Investors are on a wait- and- see approach as the IMF is likely to approve the US$ 2.9 billion dollar loan, market analysts said.
“Selling pressures have eased and now buying sentiments are improving, analysts said.
The ASPI went up by 29.54 points, while the most liquid S&P SL20 index rose by 15.7 points. Turnover stood at Rs 1.8 billion with three crossings. Those crossings were reported in Hemas Holdings, which crossed three million shares to the tune of Rs 199 million, its shares were quoted at Rs 65, Hayleys 738,000 shares crossed for Rs 59.8 million, its shares traded at Rs 31 and JKH 290,000 shares crossed for Rs 42 million, and its shares fetched Rs 141.
In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; Browns Investments Rs 209 million (30.8 million shares traded), JKH Rs 84.6 million (584,000 shares traded), Access Engineering Rs 79.5 million (4.9 million shares traded), LOLC Finance Rs 75.4 million (10.9 million shares traded), Union Bank Rs 62.9 million (6.7 million shares traded), Expolanka Holdings Rs 60 million (420,000 shares traded) and SLT Rs 57.5 million (687,000 shares traded). During the day 98.7 million share volumes changed hands in 20000 transactions.
Top gainers during mid- hours were Commercial Bank, Browns Investment and Access Engineering. Access Engineering is an unusual top contributor and this is because interest had been generated in it after assurances had been given on the IMF deal and there is an assumption that multilateral projects are likely to begin with the IMF restructuring process coming to a close, market analysts said.
Sri Lanka’s growth will be contained at a negative 3 per cent in 2023 after a 12.4 per cent shrinkage in the fourth quarter of 2022 and is expected to turn positive from next year, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said. Siyambalapitiya told reporters on March 18 that Sri Lanka can expect a “positive economy” in 2024.
Yesterday the rupee opened stronger and was quoted at around Rs 330/338 to the US dollar, stronger from Friday’s close of Rs 337/345 to the US dollar, dealers said.
Business
“Surfing Through the Crisis”

EY Sri Lanka, is scheduled to host a discussion ‘Debt Restructuring Implications to the Financial Services Sector’, on March 22, from 08:45 am to 12:30 pm at The Kingsbury Colombo. The session branching under the theme, ‘Surfing through the Crisis’, is designed specifically for CEOs, CFOs, and CRO of the financial sector, as well as the chairpersons of the Audit Committee and the Board Integrated Risk Management Committee. The event hopes to create value for Sri Lanka’s financial sector amidst the prevailing economic challenges. As the largest service providers to the financial sector in terms of audits, tax, consultancy, and strategy & transaction, EY Sri Lanka feels compelled to assist the financial sector as they navigate the challenges of the economic crisis.
Despite the expected positive outcomes of debt restructuring, the process itself can be painful for the country, financial institutions, debtors and creditors. To the financial services sector specifically it could bring several challenges to capital management, financial reporting, Credit Risk and Liquidity Risk management strategies.
This session will explore these implications, under two technical segments, from Risk Management and Accounting lenses, and the mechanisms required for an effective transition. From a Risk Management perspective there will be several simulations on how it affects the financial institution’s capital and profitability whilst the accounting perspective will include discussions relating to how the debt restructuring process shall be accounted for in line with SLFRS 9 Financial Instruments.
The event will be conducted by Manil Jayesinghe, Country Managing Partner of EY Sri Lanka and Maldives, and Rajith Perera, Partner Financial Accounting Advisory Services EY Sri Lanka. To register for the session, or for further inquiries please contact Nurani Rajapaksha (Nurani.Rajapaksha@lk.ey.com)
Business
Participants of Raid Amazones 2023 arrive from Paris on SriLankan Airlines

The participants of the adventure trail ‘Raid Amazones 2023’ arrived at Bandaranaike International Airport on SriLankan Airlines’ flight UL 564 from Paris. SriLankan Airlines is the Presenting Partner of Raid Amazones and extended a warm welcome with a traditional flare to the arriving group.
The group boarded the Udarata Menike train from the Gampaha Railway Station shortly thereafter for a scenic journey to Kandy, where the trail will unfold from 22 – 28 March.
Raid Amazones is the world’s only itinerant women’s adventure race. Nearly 250 female athletes will be participating in the 21st edition of the trail in Kandy.
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