Mahela and Sanga venture into online grocery retail
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Mr. Mahela Jayawardena
Cricket legends Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara, partners in many business ventures, have come together this time to launch an online grocery retail store – PROVIDORE.
The company offers an end-to-end service from order placement to delivery, ensuring the safe storage, handling and delivery of the groceries, guarantees the quality of products by working directly with farmers and suppliers and operates a dedicated fulfilment centre and running its own delivery fleet.
A media release by the company said that Mr. Jayawardena and Mr. Sangakkara are intrepid entrepreneurs, seeking out meaningful, quality investments to positively impact everyday life. They have personally invested themselves in many successful start-up ventures, their latest being PROVIDORE, an online grocery and household marketplace for Sri Lanka, it said.
Being familiar with online grocery retail due to frequent overseas travel and having come to appreciate a certain delivery and service standard, Co-founder and Partner Mr. Sangakkara stated, “COVID has changed the way most of us live. Working from home, distance learning and video calls are a part of everyday life now, as is taking the necessary precautions for the safety of ourselves, our families and the greater community. So not only was it important to bring safe and reliable online grocery shopping to Sri Lanka, but also to provide exceptional service and customer experience.”
Mr. Kumar Sangakkara
Noted Co-founder and Partner, Mr. Jayawardena: “Online grocery shopping can make our lives safer and easier, but we have to remember that this is food – you need to know how it is stored, handled, transported and finally delivered to you, with the peace of mind that all necessary processes and safeguards are always in place.”
Aside from the cricketing duo, the other founding partners comprise the executive directorship of the company, bringing together experience from IT, F&B and Hospitality, Retail and Finance. The technology solution was developed in collaboration with leading eCommerce and technology providers from both Sri Lanka and the US.
“EFutures is our strategic technology partner and was instrumental in using best in class of technologies to execute our vision. The mandate being to view every aspect of the solution from a consumer’s perspective and not a retailer’s. And together, we created a purpose-built, fully functional shopping experience that ensures a seamless customer experience from order placement to delivery. That is the PROVIDORE promise,” said CEO Meneka Galgamuwa.