Waruni Jayathunga
Coconut Milk Manufacturers’ Association (CMMA) President Randeewa Malalasooriya says that the nation’s coconut industry has the potential to bring in $ 2.5 billion as revenue up from the current industry average of $ 850 million.
Malalasooriya further stated that the country must improve the annual coconut production to 4.5 billion nuts in the long term while also focusing on the import of low value coconut products to produce value added coconut products for re-export purposes.
He also said that Sri Lanka must decrease the wastage of fresh coconut by adopting processed coconut food.
Malalasooriya, who stated that 50% of coconut industry revenue in Sri Lanka comes from kernel products, noted that Sri Lanka is the fourth largest coconut manufacturer in the world.
“It (the industry) has a huge potential to earn at least $ 2.5 billion or above, if we can get the right practices in place. If you look at the world market, Sri Lanka still has a good opportunity in the coconut sector.”
“As the industrialists, we strongly believe that we can in the short-term take the revenue up to $ 1.5 billion and $ 2.5 billion in the long run. This industry has a huge potential.”
Furthermore, he noted: “But to go there, we need a minimum of 4.5 billion nuts. One of the short term strategies is to bring some of the raw materials from other countries like Indonesia or Philippines. That way, you can bring fresh nuts or low value added products, add value and then export.”
Malalasooriya expressed that Sri Lanka still has too low yield per tree, emphasising the need to increase this efficiency.
“On the other hand, we still consume so much coconut in a fresh format. So we need to look at processed products to stop this wastage”, he added.
