Munchee reaffirms commitment to caring for community as it steps into 54th year

Munchee, Sri Lanka’s largest biscuit manufacturer and exporter, recently announced that it was preparing to enter its 54th year with the theme ‘Api hadanne biscuit vitharak nemei,’ meaning ‘we are not just making biscuits’.

Over the past five decades the Munchee brand has become extremely popular among consumers in Sri Lanka and abroad. Meanwhile Munchee Biscuits are exported to more than 60 countries, covering all the continents, which provides ample testimony for its ever growing popularity. It is noteworthy to mention that Munchee has been adjudged Sri Lanka’s number one brand eight times.  

CBL General Manager Marketing Janmesh Paul Anthony said that Munchee had done more for the benefit of the Sri Lankan society than just its success as a business as well as a brand, through many CSR initiatives. Adding that he said Munchee was delighted to be able to reach the hearts of people of all walks of life due to its caring approach. 

He said that the decision to enter the 54th year under the theme ‘Api hadanne biscuit vitharak nemei’ was made to emphasise to all stakeholders that Munchee is committed to furthering the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives that it has been doing so far under the Munchee brand. 

Munchee during a period of over 50 years has extended its active community care in the fields of education, youth and sports, arts and culture , community development , environment protection and disaster relief. Under these areas currently hundreds of programs are in operation whilst bringing benefit to many communities. As such, Anthony said it was appropriate to highlight just a few of them. 

CBL, the mother company of Munchee, was founded 54 years ago to contribute towards the Government’s efforts to provide nutritious biscuits as midday meal for school children. Having developed an appropriate recipe for the purpose Munchee also willingly undertook the production of biscuits for the Government. 

From then until now, Munchee has contributed to a number of community service programs, fulfilling a wide range of social responsibilities. Among them, the priority given to education related programs is remarkable. Programs such as the long-running Munchee Tikiri Sishyadara schcolarship program, the Munchee Hapana Workshops for Year Five Scholarship Exam and the Munchee Sisudiriya have contributed immensely to the education of our children. At present, the number of students who have benefited from these education oriented Munchee CSR programs is in the hundreds of thousands. 

Munchee’s contribution to the National Volleyball Championship over the years is one of the outstanding national initiatives of Munchee’s community outreach programs under the youth and sports area.

Munchee has been continuously helping both veteran and budding artistes to showcase their talents and entertain masses. Munchee also supports many cultural, religious and seasonal events with the aim of promoting and preserving the cultures of different ethnic groups in the country.

The Gamata Sarana Community Development Program with the active Munchee patronage has been involved in the upliftment of livelihood of the people in the remote villages. The main objective of this initiative is providing common facilities required for day-to-day living. 

Under this, large number of common amenities such as drinking water facilities, classrooms, community halls, small bridges and libraries have been provided. At present about 170 community development projects implemented with Munchee financial assistance have been handed over to the people. It has created a value of around Rs. 100 million for more than two hundred thousand beneficiaries.  

Anthony said he was pleased that Munchee had been a symbol of affection and caring for more than 50 years, bringing the CSR programs of Munchee closer to the people and winning their hearts. As Munchee steps into its 54th year, the aim is to make that CSR commitment more meaningful by choosing the theme ‘We are not just making biscuits’. As such, Munchee can assure all its stakeholders that not only it will continue all the CSR initiatives it has implemented but will also expand them to reach the benefits for larger number of deserving people.