Keells Supermarket strengthens retail ecosystem, leads sustainable agricultural practices amidst adversity

It has created sustainable value chains and communities throughout Sri Lanka through its projects.

The year 2022 has been particularly challenging for Sri Lanka due to the economic downturn, civil, and political unrest, accompanied by shortages in essentials like cooking gas, fuel, medicine, fertiliser, and electricity.

The country experienced a high inflation rate, currency depreciation, and interest rate hikes, with all of this leading to a contraction in disposable income, severe brain drain, and a downturn in consumer sentiment.

With customers at the heart of everything it does, Keells Supermarkets took the time to understand the evolving needs of stakeholders. The supermarket’s approach was underpinned by stakeholder needs and the need to alleviate the negative impacts of the macroeconomic environment on the business.

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As such, it has introduced an affordable range of products consisting of 118 items in bakery and prepared food at lower prices, launching smaller pack sizes and bringing in a higher number of deals on products whilst importing essentials like rice, dhal, and sugar at affordable prices. Awareness was also created about local affordable nutritious produce, with inland fish varieties made available.

Keells also introduced meals at nominal prices, crisis allowances, free sanitary napkins for female staff, and support for the mental well-being of their team members.

Moreover, it provided technical assistance to 35 MSMEs by partnering with the United States Agency for International Development to improve their product quality and optimise brand visibility and sustainable business practices.

To address the lack of access to food and nutritious meals in communities, Keells initiated the donation of over 25,000 essential packs to vulnerable communities and 43,000 meals to preschool children, with the support of customers and stakeholders. 

Meanwhile, the supermarket chain introduced the ‘Govidri’ project with the objective of creating sustainable agricultural practices amongst farmers with the vision of creating future-ready “agri-preneurs” so that they too could thrive and grow together with the business, thereby creating sustainable value chains and communities throughout the country.

This project became a reality with the collaborative efforts between Keells and its partners, such as the Smallholder Agribusiness Partnerships Programme, Market Development Facility, International Labour Organisation, and other like-minded parties who share a common vision.

Govidri consists of several initiatives focusing on different aspects of farmer support. Amongst these is the Productivity Enhancement Project, which includes increasing the productivity of farmers by introducing best practices such as drip irrigation, insect-proof nets, transplanters, and poly mulching.

This project resulted in up to 60% of utilised water being saved through drip irrigation, and the cost of agrochemicals and fungicides was reduced by 80%.

Govidri also includes The Green House Project, which would help strengthen the capacity of youth agri-preneurs. This resulted in 24 greenhouses being approved for certification and over 220,000kg of vegetables being sourced via greenhouses.

Keells noted that, as it continues to face similar challenges, the stability and sustainability of the entire ecosystem are important for a business to thrive.

This mindset, together with the success of its projects and initiatives, has been recognised by the Retail Asia Awards as Keells’ clinched the Supermarket of the Year – Sri Lanka. Govidri also took home the Sustainability Initiative of the Year - Sri Lanka.

“Keells takes great pride in providing our customers with high-quality fresh produce as we believe that everyone deserves access to quality food and household essentials at affordable prices,” the company said.

The prestigious awards programme gathers the region's best retailers and recognises major breakthroughs, innovations, and key players in the Asia retail industry.

The Retail Asia Awards is presented by Retail Asia Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2024 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's exceptional products or initiatives in the retail industry, please contact Jane Patiag at [email protected].