The Sri Lanka Food Processors Association (SLFPA) in a bid to prevent wastage, aims to create opportunities for farmers to meet with food processors directly to discuss their needs.
The SLFPA will be conducting its 9th Profoods/Propack 2010 at the BMICH from August 20-22, 2010 where the venue of this exhibition will be the meeting place for farmers and the food processors.
At a press conference this week in Colombo to announce the scheduling of Profoods/Propack 2010, Aasim Mukthar, Manager, Exhibition and Conference Services (Pvt) Ltd said the exhibition will provide an opportunity for the farmers and food processors to meet and then they would be able to decide on modalities as to how much and at what quality to be produced by the farmers which could not only provide the farmers the required production but also ways of cutting costs.
Mario De Alwis, Chairman, Processed Food Development Initiative (PFDI) said that farmers produce their raw material and these are processed and value added to satisfy the needs of the consumer.
He said that bribery and corruption is rampant everywhere in this country where lack of reasoning and transparency has vanished and too many regulations and the taxation systems tend to ruin their industry.
He said that a number of government authorities from which they have to obtain approval have different regulations and the ultimate tax quantum would be around 30 % of their cost of production. He said that the processed food market is highly competitive.
He said that Sri Lanka would be one of the few countries or the only country where the industrialists and exporters have to compute prices almost every week as the taxation system for them has been changing all the time.
Mr De Alwis said that one area they are aiming to specialise in is infant and health foods where there is a good local market. |
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