Call to exploit snack market

"The "New Look" Maliban Cream Cracker was being positioned as the "Lifestyle Cracker" catering to all ages. Maliban machinery and technology is of European origin. Thus we have a large space for growth. In Europe the per capita consumption of biscuits is about 32kgs and in Sri Lanka it’s only 2-3 kgs. However as Sri Lanka develops this figure will increase to at least 10kgs in the medium term, thus clearly demonstrating the potential for growth in the biscuit manufacturing market", said Nirosh De Silva, Advisor to Maliban Biscuit manufactures Pvt Ltd at the launch of new Cream Cracker to the market yesterday.
He further said that after the major strike took place in the Maliban Biscuit factory some years back their market share declined. Their 42% market share fall to 15% and it even affected the export sector heavily as they could not fulfill the targets and orders. Thus the strike led them to a financial difficulty. This also led them to a greater competition as many other smaller competitors raised their heads and the main competitor got hold of their share as well. Thus the post-strike years were focused to regain their market share and their good will. Thus they were working on a long term market plan. This plan included some major objectives such as strengthening their financial status and to build a team of young professional for the future of Maliban Biscuits. This launch is a culmination of a good part of last years work. According to the plan they wanted to introduce something new, something different and something to touch the hearts of the consumer. Thus this taste of the new Cracker will make it.

Further speaking he said what has changed Maliban biscuits , which has a history over 50 years, from others is the consistent profitability. By this profit Maliban has continued to do the CSR work even long before the term CSR was introduced. Thus Maliban has always been close to the people.

He pointed out though that the risk to the industry lay in the area of cheap products and excess stocks being dumped by countries who could leverage their trade agreements to gain unfair advantage over local producers.

Speaking about the Marketing strategies, Kumerini Candappa, Head of Marketing said generally a cracker gives a papery taste to the palette and though the consumers taste changed Maliban continued to stick to the traditional taste. And their competition won. This product has 3 main properties as displayed in the packing, as No preservatives, no animal fat and no transfat. One generally eats a Cream Cracker as a hunger stopper, it is an in between meals product. As the competitor advertise its for "podi Badaginnata". But as she said Maliban gives more than that. Maliban is for "hitha pirenna" . Maliban Cream Crackers focus on the satisfaction one gets when consuming a biscuit. This launch also introduces a 50g pack in addition to other packs as today many consumers look to eat crackers on the go. This 50g packet is targeted at the office staff as well as the snack market. This new pack is priced at Rs.20. she said that the new packaging too was part and parcel of their communications to their customers. The red Cream Cracker pack is synonymous with the House of Maliban and therefore they have retained the red, bringing in the wheat fields and the sun to signify the goodness of the product , while the gold lines denote its superiority.

Keerthi Pieris, New Product Development and international Marketing Manager said the Quality is their religion. He said that the company currently exports to over 20 countries in 5 continents. It has a wide global presence as they commenced exports as early as 1963. Maliban biscuits are currently exported to Canada, the USA, UK, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Australia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Maldives, Seychelles, India, Bangladesh and Ghana.

Answering the media Nirosh De Silva further said that many of our food sector is dominated by multi-national companies, but the biscuit industry is still dominated by mainly two local manufactures, thus they are happy with their achievements. He added saying that Maliban is one of the few food businesses in our country that have the ISO 22,000 certification that relates to food safety. And during last financial year Maliban has recorded a strong financial performance. With regard to plans for the future, Keerthi Pieris said they were focusing on expanding their exports whilst improving the company’s bottom line and planning to expand product range over the next year.