Remember Alerics Ice Cream? In 1949, when Alerics De Silva Wimalarathne ventured into ice cream, he wouldn’t have dreamed that his family-run business will one day become a legend.
Mr. Wimalarathna who studied and lived in Australia returned to Sri Lanka in the late 1940s with the intention of launching a business. He capitalized on his expertise and knowledge gained in Australia in the field of ice cream manufacturing to start an ice cream manufacturing plant in Wellawatta.
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| Inside the ice cream facility |
Making it to Piccadilly Café
Initially the ice cream made in his plant was sold by Mr. Wimalarathna himself and subsequently he entered the retail market of Colombo and down south. This was done through ice cream vans which sold Alerics Ice Cream at public places such as playgrounds, religious places, carnivals, etc. With its tender taste and distinctive look, Alerics became an instant favourite especially perfect for cooling down during a hot day.
The brand's pure and natural taste had sealed its position as the nation's favourite. The business celebrated its success by opening the very first Ice Cream parlour called Piccadilly Café in Wellawatta which was one of the most exclusive hang-out places in the 1960s. In the 60s and 70s, it was one of the best known brands, where Alerics saw its golden era both as a comfort food and festive treat. The vanilla was a consolation for a minor disappointment, and chocolate was a reward for reaching a personal goal.
But the company failed to maintain the momentum in the wake of strong marketing campaigns of major scale ice cream manufacturers. Despite losing its market share for other popular brands in the organized market, Alerics continued to operate mostly in rural areas and temples in and around Colombo through their distributor vans.
Mandarin Dairy Products
Time passed, changes happened and the Alerics brand along with its assets and operations was bought by a consortium of bullish investors some six months ago. Mandarin Capital with 75%, Navara Capital with 20% and Trevin Gomes, the CEO of Mandarin Dairy Products which is the holding company of this acquisition, comprises the consortium.
"The purpose of the acquisition is to revive the Alerics brand with its inherited brand values in the Sri Lankan consumer market and to gain resultant economic benefits," Harsha N. De Silva, Deputy Chairman Mandarin Dairy Products Limited (MDPL) told the Business Times. Subsequently, he said that this investment was structured to include important strategic partners and a new firm was created as MDPL.
In its restructuring efforts, MDPL will introduce new recipes to traditional products, enhance the quality, change the packaging, establish a distribution network covering the entire island and carry out a promotional campaign. "All this is done in order to elevate the Alerics brand to a higher echelon," Mr. De Silva added.
New additions
In addition, the company plans to produce other dairy products under its roof in order to establish supremacy in the highly competitive dairy product retail market. “In this endeavour, Mandarin Dairy Products is scheduled to commence manufacturing of yoghurt and cheese within the first year followed by other dairy products under the Alerics Brand. It is envisaged that this diversification mechanism will enable the company to achieve economies of scale,” Mr. De Silva noted. He noted that the traditional red and white colours of Alerics ice cream will be retained, while the logo will be slightly altered. |
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