Financial Times - Coming together of business minds

Coming together of business minds

By Robert Ingall

Tangalle – “Most of those in this region earn a living through food processing in one way or another. Fairs like this are needed to offer marketing opportunities to those participating so they have the chance to move into larger scale production. If this happens, family incomes will increase, allowing the next generation to get richer and improve their lives.”

Chamal Rajapaksa, Minister for Agriculture, above, opened the fair and did his best to visit every booth. In total there were 85 booths at the fair showing off their local products, where sauces and pastes were seen in great numbers. Pix by J. Weerasekara.

Those were the comments from Chamal Rajapaksa, Minister for Agriculture, when asked why he thought the Hambantota Food Processing Fair at Tangalle Town Hall held last weekend was so important. The fair was organised by MercyCorps, a humanitarian organisation, and managed by Victory Exhibitions & Conventions. It was the second such fair organised by MercyCorps, after one in Ampara.

There were 85 exhibitors, both local and national to show off their wares, as well as getting together for the mutual benefit of both, well that was the aim and it did come about with a little prodding, according to Sarah Buckley, Regional Programme Manager, MercyCorps. For the local contributors, that number was around 30.

When we first met it was not long after the opening by the Agricultural Minister, and Ms Buckley was feeling confident that a lot of what was learned from Ampara was going to make this fair even more successful.

“One of the reasons, I think, is that Tangalle is a more business-orientated place, plus Victory has done a very good job as far as organising and targeting the right business people to show here. They are better fitted to the needs of the locals,” she said, adding that the businesses were specifically invited this time, whereas before the companies answered an advertisement.

This being The Sunday FT's second visit to this fair, after Ampara, what Ms Buckley said was actually true. There were a greater variety of nationwide businesses offering a range of opportunities and potential benefits to the local representatives and those just visiting.

The art to making a really great snack is not to know your picture is being taken, as one of the vendors realises too late.

Two of those were Pixel Arts and surprisingly, the Galadari Hotel. Surprisingly, because as Ms Buckley said, “At first I had no idea what such a hotel would have to offer. And as you can see, they are very popular.” And so they were for both days.

But back to the Pixel Art Company for a moment: based in Kandy, their representatives were selling interactive learning CDs in Sinhala. The subjects being taught ranged from Microsoft XP, to Adobe Photoshop, to CoralDraw, among others

“Of course, you have to have the actual software on the computer, but the CD gives very clear and concise instructions on how to learn the workings of these somewhat daunting programmes,” said Wijerathna Dunukewila, Business and Promotions Co-ordinator, Pixel Art.

Even though the prices for the CD went up to Rs 650, the guys working the booth were carrying out a roaring trade. And with the central government's and private sector’s move to give more people access to computers to offer the chance to improve their lives, access to these learning CDs can only help.

The hotel was invited to educate the local people on the dishes that could be made from local ingredients, such as milk, fish and rice, said Imroze Salih, one of the three Sous Chefs at the booth (see box).

On catching up with the minister again, he was asked what the government was doing to help the people in the region. He said that the relevant ministries were working together to pass on technologies needed to improve the quality of life.

“Government agencies are listening to what is needed and looking for ways to supply those needs. That should be helped by the number of infrastructure projects that are going on in the region, such as the airport in Weerawila, the extension of the railway, and the proposed seaport, among others. All this will help improve the living standards of the people,” he said.

For Manaram Dairy Products, the fair was not about expanding countrywide, just to expand locally. Based in Tangalle, the company had been going for two years, where it produced 10,000 pots of yogurt a month. The warm milk was delicious, it must be said.Back talking to Ms. Buckley, she said that those with stalls, when looking around themselves, were taking the event more seriously this time, noting that more information was being swapped.

"Victory has been very instrumental in this. As this is an agribusiness show, there were problems getting those businesses who normally don't deal with the sector to attend, but with the right questions and answers, Victory managed to get them to come.

The fair wasn't just for those with booths to sell their products and make contacts, it was also there for those visiting to find what was on offer.

Then again, there was more media involvement this time,” she said.
As in Ampara, there will be grants on offer, up to Rs 300,000, for those local businesses that can put forward a business plan that is comprehensive enough to be eligible. As for the grants in Ampara, a total of 42 were given, ranging from Rs 50,000 to the maximum Rs 300,000. To ensure the money is not mismanaged, MercyCorps keeps a close eye on those that got the grants for the first six months, and from then on with the occasional visit.

On a brief visit the next day, Ms. Buckley was still happy as far as how things were going. She did admit that there were still some things that hadn't happened as they should; an example being a notice board to tell those visiting who was doing a presentation when, but as usually happens in these circumstances, it arrived there and then.

One interesting tale did come out though from the regional programme manager. She decided to introduce a representative from a company that sells the bags and machines that seal them, to a woman who sold snacks in locally-produced wrapping.

As the gent noticed, the snacks had a shelf life of three months if properly sealed, but the woman’s bags would not keep the freshness for that length of time. The thing is her wrapping cost just Rs 0.60, while his cost Rs 2. She admitted she would be willing to charge more to ensure the better bag, but was she likely to?

And that is the $60,000 dollar question. The problem here is you can introduce people to each other, where business could be conducted and money made, but the problem is getting the small-scale producer to aim for the next level.

The fair aimed to do that, but if it actually gets the entrepreneurial part of that person to move ahead, that is something else.

As in most things in life, there are risks, but some people just aren’t willing to take them. But at least MercyCorps is helping people to move in the right direction. The fair was funded by JP Morgan.

Galadari Hotel whets fair appetite

One of the surprises at the fair was the Galadari Hotel, but maybe it shouldn’t have been. It seems the hotel has been doing a lot of workshops for quite a number of years.

At the fair were three chefs from the hotel concocting delicious food and drinks from ingredients found in plentiful supply in the area, such as fish, milk and rice, with the odd smattering of cinnamon, among others.

“The idea is to educate the local people, especially the women, about the best ways to prepare and cook food in the most hygienic ways with the hope that with grants available from MercyCorps, local people will think about starting cottage industries offering such simple food in a five-star way,” said Imroze Salih, a Sous Chef at the hotel.

One of the Galadari Hotel sous chefs offering cheese made from local ingredients to fair visitors.

As for the fair: “Those visiting our booth were very inquisitive, very educated and eager to take in what we had to offer. They were only too happy to get involved,” he said.

And what were they doing: first it was turning milk into curd and cheese; there was also marinating fish with the curd, flavoured or not, to produce a simple but delicious meal, “that I expect to be on the menus of many of the local restaurants after we've gone,” the chef cheekily, but probably correctly, added.

Also made and handed out were three different flavoured lassi drinks, which were delicious when tasted. The booth was one of the most popular at the fair, so obviously it wasn't just the chefs enjoying themselves. But it was great to see a hotel that is normally far out of reach to the people attending the fair showing that they care too.

But as Salih said, the hotel has been going upcountry doing workshops for about eight years now, mostly in girl’s schools, “and it’s very rewarding work”. The reason it’s girl’s schools is Home Science, where the facilities are already in place.

“We go to the schools and introduce different ways of cooking in the most hygienic ways. It is good experience for the students and it also introduces the hotel to a whole new section of society. Hopefully, if there are those who are really interested, they can come to the hotel and get work experience,” Salih said.

As for getting involved in the food processing fair, “That was to do with Victory (Exhibition and Convention Ltd) . We do a lot of business together and they asked, and we were only to happy to oblige,” the chef said.

And as a side note, there was a German man in a booth close by who was in the smoking business, of food that is. “We asked if he would smoke some of the cheese we’d made just to see what it would taste like. He was only too happy. We made a batch with some anchovies, smoked it and the result was so good it’s now being served at the hotel,” Salih said – which only goes to prove that a chef is never too old to spot a good dish when least expecting it.

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