Ashan Kannangara, General Manager -Sales and Operation of Maliban Biscuits
With an ambitious plan of expanding business to North and East, Sri Lankan quality biscuit market leader, and the country's premier biscuit manufacturer, Maliban Biscuit Manufactories Limited has regained half of the market share in the island through its pragmatic marketing strategy based on conventional methods, a top official of the company said.
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| Ashan Kannangara explaining a point. Pix by Athula Devapriya |
Free Hold section of Sunday Times in an exclusive interview with , Mr.Ashan Kannangara, General Manager -Sales and operation noted that winning the prestigious 'National Quality Award' recently for the second time under the Large Scale Manufacturing category was an endorsement from the Government of Sri Lanka that Maliban Biscuits is the manufacturer that focuses the aspect of quality. Maliban initially won the award in 1996.
Sri Lanka Standard Institution has recognized quality performances of the company after in-depth evaluation into key business concepts such as leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, measurement analysis, knowledge management, workforce focus and process management.
He emphasized that Maliban's achievement is mainly based on quality and innovation and the company's main aim is to supply high quality products at reasonable prices to consumers. Maliban's decades of commitment to quality were rewarded when the company was given ISO 9001 : 2000 accreditation as a manufacturing company. Maliban also received The National Quality Award in 1996.
This further established Maliban's position as the industry leader in quality. It has also won the prestigious Superior Taste Award 2010 of the Brussels-based International Taste and Quality Institute (iTQi) for three of its brands, namely, Chocolate Cream Biscuit, Gold Marie and Smart Cream Cracker. Maliban is the first Sri Lankan biscuit manufacturer to win the globally recognised iTQi award, which is increasingly being regarded as a benchmark for quality and taste of the food products world over.
Why we win all the time? How come we are winning all the consumer related awards.?
This is the success of Maliban Biscuits from the inception. Then what happens in the industry. Are other competitors following us. But by that time we have created a landmark victory for our consumers.
Therefore, our dear CONSUMERS must realize that it is only MALIBAN that gives an unbroken promise. Others always follow the leader. That is why you have a leader. A leader with a promise that we deliver "superior quality" where no one can come closer.
Since its establishment over 60 years ago, Maliban products have become household names and it has gained wide recognition both locally and internationally for its high quality. This quality award will further strengthen the company's presence in the local and international markets as it adopts more consumer-focused strategies in continuing to offer its consumers world-class products that have been trusted for generations, he said. Mr. kannangara disclosed that the company plans to increase its direct sales net work island wide from 80,000 to 100,000 before the end of this year, and thereby its indirect sales net work will also be increased from 110,000 to 130,000 . The company has a dynamic team of sales representatives numbering 260 and 130 distributors countrywide. Maliban is financially strong and making profits with a young team of professionals in charge of its business plan to emerge as a big player in the food industry, he said. "Over the past few years Maliban Biscuits has been concentrating on a long term plan to regain market share and dominance in the biscuit industry, he added.
Most of the companies in the world at times fined no meaning to the word "CONSUMER". But we here at Maliban Biscuits treat our consumers as kings or gods in the business. We have a meaning to our RETAILERS. They are our shareholders. It is no point you tease a consumer and deliver a product which has no excitement. Our consumers are well educated and they know to select the best quality product at all times. High flown, traditional marketing gimmicks won't work for our consumers in this era. You must look after them properly.
Maliban has set up the necessary infrastructure to resume business in the North and East and it is now ready to sell its products which were once very popular among quality conscious people in the North and East provinces, he said adding that plans are underway to gain over 65% of retail market in the East and over 85 % in the North. There is a high demand for Maliban Biscuits in these two provinces he revealed. This has been made possible because the House of Maliban has always been a brand close to the consumers. About 70 percent of Maliban sales are in rural areas and the balance in urban markets
Referring to Maliban's marketing strategy and current trends in the local market, Mr. Kannangara explained that in today's very competitive marketplace a strategy that insures a consistent approach to offering your product or service in a way that will outsell the competition is critical. However, in concert with defining the marketing strategy you must also have a well defined methodology for the day to day process of implementing it. It is of little value to have a strategy if you lack either the resources or the expertise to implement it, he said .He noted that the marketing strategy should be in line with the consumer behaviour. Maliban is always follows this principal in a practical way. Biscuits are an item for family consumption. He said that his strategy is to create awareness on the quality of Maliban Products among retailers thereby allowing them to attract consumers. the company will not resort to tactics like giving credit for long period , flooding the shelves at retail outlets with their products or giving high profit margins for retailers. He believes in the sale of quality products for consumer satisfaction at reasonable price with emphasis on value, quality and safety.
Referring to Company's recent successes, he said that the sale of Maliban's Smart cream-cracker is reported to have doubled in volume within just seven months of introduction to the market. This was the first time such a success was achieved in such a short time, he said. More new and innovative products will be introduced to customers soon, he added.
Mr. Kannangara revealed that the Company currently exports to over 20 countries in 5 continents. Maliban biscuits are currently being exported to Canada, the USA, UK, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Australia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Maldives, Seychelles, India, Bangladesh and Ghana. Maliban biscuits also won the coveted gold award at the NCE Export Awards in 2006 he added. .
Over six decades we have been using ingredients, raw material of the highest quality.
Commenting on the significance for the consumer, Mr. Kannangara said "From the consumers' point of view, for any biscuit, quality and the taste are by far the two most important factors. In the eyes of consumer, quality of a product means that it has been made out of world class raw materials, has a good nutritional value and is made using state-of-the-art manufacturing processes backed by ethically driven operations." he added.
The non conventional strategies that we adopted have re-defined the marketing game planning in the sector. We reached the consumer by using cost effective techniques and carried the message forward. We have set new trends and created a new vision for the consumer, he said. Finally he said, "We have regained. Consumers should be proud of consuming Maliban biscuits. We will gain further by offering great tasting biscuits to our dear consumers". |
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