Food is a basic need – one that is directly impacted by adverse economic activity. Sri Lanka’s food sector has faced many economic challenges in the last few years and the struggles aren’t over yet.

“Sri Lanka’s food sector, which comprises homegrown and agriculture based food, has been declining over the last couple of years, and imported items are being sourced from other countries,” explained the CEO of Keells Food Products Viranga Wickramaratne, during a recent LMDtv interview.

In addition to harsh economic challenges, the industry faces numerous struggles in terms of sourcing, growing and managing the supply chain.

He said: “There are challenges in bringing carefully prepared food into retail, and ensuring proper storage and logistics. And there’s also a lot of wastage taking place along the journey from the grower to the retailer, because of transportation and poor storage. The supply chain plays a significant role in ensuring that at least 99 percent of what we grow arrives safely to our tables.”

Consumer demand for food is also declining. As Wickramaratne explained, “we saw an increase in consumption during the pandemic primarily because people were at home and incomes were mostly intact. Since then, there’s been a steady drop in sales because people don’t have that kind of income to sustain or increase their purchases anymore – in fact, it’s gone in the opposite direction.”

The country’s malnutrition indices are also rising, he noted: “There are many children who don’t get three meals a day, malnutrition is higher than 25 percent in the country, and more than two and a half million kids are at risk.”

Wickramaratne continued: “We are an island nation and the exchange rate plays a massive role in whatever enters the country. Sri Lankans may not need imported apples and oranges but we need feed for the chickens and cows, and fertiliser to grow our vegetables.”

Food is a non-negotiable essential in life. “You can’t survive without food,” he emphasised, and noted that there’s a need to improve and increase farming in the country.

“The fluctuation of the US Dollar has seen farmers’ input costs increasing substantially and they are struggling to make ends meet. Although farming can be done very efficiently using digital technologies, it still needs a lot of physical effort. As a result, the number of people wanting to engage in agriculture is less,” Wickramaratne noted.

As for solutions, he asserted: “We need to begin by getting more people into the food sector to manufacture, process and transport it. The technology is available to help.” Effective technologies are used in countries such Israel or Saudi Arabia “where they grow food in the desert,” he added.

The CEO of Keells Food Products explained that “there are countries that have got it right and are willing to share that knowledge. But can we have a cohesive national plan and say that we’re going to be self-sufficient in at least five food items, which the whole country can then buy at reasonable prices?”

Minimising food waste is another crucial goal for Sri Lanka. A substantial quantum of food is wasted at the household level and along the supply chain.

He observed that “in many Western countries, people have the opportunity to purchase short expiry food because supermarkets throw everything out or sell at discounted rates. Can we get there? Will we be happy to buy something with only one month left before the expiration date?”

Wickramaratne stressed that we will have to lower our expectations and change our mindsets, because food is both precious and expensive.

He observed: “Since costs have increased and we are paying 50 percent more for most purchases compared to a few years back, we need to ask ourselves what the real value of food is?”

“Today, we have to import basic items such as rice, coconuts and eggs. If we go on like this, we’re going to be in trouble because it’s not sustainable,” he cautioned.