Wijaya Products secures double accolades at SLIM Nielsen People’s Awards

Re-establishing the fame of Sri Lanka’s spices, which for centuries has been the trademark of the island across the world, Wijaya Products reaffirmed its brand in the local market at the recently concluded SLIM Nielsen People’s Awards by winning the Food Brand of the Year for the third consecutive year and the Youth Food Brand of the Year for the first time. 

This double accolade stands proof to the quality and trust of the consumers on the brand that solidifies its commitment. The People’s Awards is conducted by the national body for Marketing in Sri Lanka, SLIM and globally renowned research company, Nielsen.

With humble beginnings from Dodangoda in Kalutara in 1989, Wijaya Products began with a single employee. Today the company boasts of over 1000 employees. The company is responsible for the manufacturing and marketing of products under four primary categories – noodles, flour, beverages (tea and coffee) and spices. 

Owned by a prominent local family hailing from Dodangoda, Managing Director Aruna Kothalawala revealed that the secret to success is the genuine objective to provide nothing but the best to the customer. 

“Our team is committed to bring our own taste to our own people in the highest quality and standards. Today, our dedication has been rewarded. We humbly thank our loyal customers for giving us this honour, as well as our management and employees for their hard work which has brought us here,” he added. 

Commenting further he stated: “We thank SLIM and Nielsen for putting together an event of such calibre which appreciates local entrepreneurs and extend our warm wishes to all who were recognised at the People’s Awards.”

This award is added to the list of accolades won by Wijaya Products. In 2017 the company secured the CNCI Top 10 Award for the fourth year running, whilst Kothalawala was the Gold award winner at the Provincial and National levels in the Extra-Large category at the Sri Lankan Entrepreneur of the Year – 2017. Wijaya Products Ltd. was named the winner of the CNCI Award in 2015 and placed third in the Large-Scale Manufacturing category at the National Productivity Awards in 2014. 

Wijaya Products is a household name especially with the authentic spices which include powders such as chilly, turmeric, pepper, cumin, curry; seeds such as coriander, pepper, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, mustard, cardamom, cloves, garcinia and cinnamon sticks. Tea and coffee make up the beverages, whilst the flour category consists of red and white rice flour, kurakkan, undu, table salt and sago. The products in the noodle category are special, Chinese and papadam.