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Q: Share the brand’s history and progression in the last 12 months…

A: Tokyo Cement was established in 1982 as a joint venture between Japan’s Mitsui Mining and Sri Lanka’s St. Anthony’s Consolidated by founder Chairman Deshamanya A. Y. S. Gnanam.

And Tokyo Cement is the first and only public listed cement producer. We are also the country’s largest manufacturer of cement, concrete and an extensive range of cement-based value added products.

Tokyo Super, which is synonymous with unmatched quality and trust, remains the only construction solutions brand to cover the entire range of cement-based products from foundations to finishes. Tokyo Super has the highest quality cements with the lowest carbon footprint in the market.

Tokyo Supermix ready mix is the largest concrete network in Sri Lanka. Tokyo Super extends its brand values across a portfolio of cement-based, value added solutions for tiling, plastering, waterproofing, construction grouts and many other first movers that have created markets where there weren’t any before.

A culture of quality and innovation is ingrained in Tokyo Super, derived from its mission of ‘setting standards that exceed expectations.’ This is accomplished by using top-grade raw materials, and investing in modern technology and equipment to raise the bar on quality.

This is backed by the strong partnerships formed with our dealers and distributors, who help us weather numerous market and economic storms with greater resilience.

Q: What are some branding strategies that Tokyo Super could employ to capitalise on its reputation?

A: Tokyo Super firmly established itself as the pinnacle of quality, a reputation underscored by our investments in state-of-the-art technology, rigorous quality control systems and innovative product development expertise of our teams.

The collaboration with our Japanese partner Mitsubishi UBE Cement Corporation gives us necessary exposure to latest manu­facturing technologies through training and development of our technical staff.

To reaffirm our leadership, we continuously enhance our manufacturing capacity to fully cater to the current and future growth in domestic cement demand. Tokyo Super considers product quality development to meet global standards as part of our responsibility.

Our advanced R&D expertise allowed Tokyo Super to pioneer in numerous product categories and position itself as the market leader for many value added solutions.

Tokyo Super is established as the branded house that delivers ‘top of the mind’ products ranging from the best quality cements and the largest concrete network to the highest performance tile adhesives, industry standard exceeding water proofers, construction repair grouts, and all in one multipurpose mortar for block laying and plastering.

We train and educate key influencer groups from masons to technical officers, university students and engineers, in partnership with professional and academic institutions.

Our brand equity comes from investing in communities, not only campaigns. We have deployed many far-reaching CSR initiatives that aim to conserve our country’s rich biodiversity and transform the lives of our citizens.

In terms of corporate social responsibility, our Nourishing the Future school nutrition programme addresses childhood malnutrition by providing a glass of milk and a balanced midday meal on all school days to nearly 1,400 children in deeply rural areas.

Tokyo Cement’s Fountain of Life is another programme that touches the lives of more than 4,400 people by supplying purified drinking water in selected rural villages that lack access to potable water and face severe health concerns.

Q: How should organisations maintain a balance between investments, innovation and financial performance?

A: Tokyo Cement has always prioritised long-term investments to stay competitive and meet forecasted demand growth. Our culture is to adapt modern technology at regular intervals to stay abreast of global quality standards and sustainable manufacturing.

We have always stayed a step ahead of the demand curve, and that allowed us to ensure an uninterrupted supply of cement to all parts of the island despite the import restrictions due to forex issues in 2022/23.

The current phase of expansion involves increasing capacity at the Colombo Port terminal and adding a million metric tonnes to production capacity at our Trincomalee factory. These investments are expected to provide a competitive edge for the Tokyo Cement Group in meeting market demands when the local construction industry rebounds.

Telephone: 2558100 |Email: sales@tokyocement.lk | Website: www.tokyocement.com