With the aim of reducing the outflow of foreign reserves from importing french fries adjoined to the agriculture Model Village at Kahaththewela in Bandarawela, Sri Lanka’s first-ever french fries manufacturing plant is set to be open by tomorrow (11), The Daily Morning Business learnt. 

Speaking to The Daily Morning Business, an officer from the Ministry of Agriculture said, yesterday (9): “Under the Smallholder Agribusiness Partnerships Programme (SAPP) implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Govi Jana Samagama, Kahaththewela, this french fries manufacturing plant is set to open on 11 August.”

The aforesaid manufacturing plant has planned to purchase potatoes from 250 local farmers for a higher price while the targeted production per day is expected to be 1,000 Kg, he added.

It is an investment over Rs. 100 million, he noted. 

The Agriculture Ministry officer further explained: “Sri Lanka spends approximately Rs. 3, 000 million worth of foreign reserves annually for the french fries importation. The outflow of dollars in this regard cannot be reduced 100%, however, this plant is a measure to reduce it. It is the first time in Sri Lanka that we would be manufacturing (french fries) especially aiming at domestic consumption.”

In the supermarkets of  Sri Lanka, 1 kg of frozen fries packet ranges from Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 2,800.

The Daily Morning Business inquired the officer whether the Ministry has plans to expand the said plant’s production to export-level in the future or join the supply chain of the franchise of multinational fast food chains that has been established in the country. He responded to the query saying that they can in fact purchase the product from the fries manufacturing plant and that exportation to be commenced over the time.

However, a final decision of the number of individuals to be employed at the plant has not been taken yet except for a few numbers of workers who have been recruited to operate the machinery in the plant.  

The key driver of SAPP is “Public-Private-Producer Partnerships” (4Ps) value chain model which brings public sector, rural smallholder farmers and private sector companies to a common platform where all the partners can develop their agribusiness towards a common goal of uplifting the rural farmer communities economically and socially and support rural economic development.