Lankan dhal refining mill of humble origins now a globally-certified firm with Swiss tech

Has world’s largest lentil

processing machinery

Good work, and pulse

imports up by 75%: Rishad

Meeting 85% Lankan lentil need: LAP’s Chairman Bahardeen

Wins first SLS 896 & ISO 22000 in the country

Multi grain processing next: LAP’s Bahardeen

SL annually spends $75 m

for red lentils

Plans to support local

farmers next

A one-man-owned dhal refining mill that has a humble beginning way back in 1970 has now become the biggest player in Sri Lanka’s pulses market, operating the world’s largest lentil refining machinery in the country.

The one-time small venture, now partnered by an Australian firm, also clinched the country’s first SLS 896 and ISO 22000 certifications on 18 October.

“Today I am honoured to present the ISO 22000 award and first SLS 896 in Sri Lanka to Lanka Agro Processing Ltd. I congratulate the Lankan company for these business achievements,” said Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen, addressing the ISO 22000 and SLS 896 luncheon award event by Lanka Agro Processing Ltd. at the Cinnamon Grand on 18 October.

Lanka Agro Processing (LAP), now a BoI venture with an Australian firm, traces its humble beginnings back to 1970, when entrepreneur Mohammed Cassim of Colombo started the mill enlisting machinery on a contract basis and started refining red dhal for the local market. A second mill came into operation in 1990 and Mohammed Cassim’s son Mohamed Bahardeen, the present Chairman of LAP, reinvested and incorporated Lanka Agro Processing Ltd in 2012, enlisting BoI status with an Australian investor in the process.

Today the firm operates the world’s biggest red lentil processing single line plant that produces 150 tons of refined lentils per day to the Lankan market. Combined with his other lentil refining (non-BoI) venture, Barik Enterprises, Mohamed Bahardeen today fulfils 85% of daily needs of the Lankan red-lentil market.

The world’s biggest red lentil processing single line plant operated by LAP is a state-of-the-art, Buhler brand machine from Switzerland.

Bathiudeen stated: “Many family companies started by senior generations are being run down to the ground by the next generations but I am pleased to note that this is not the case with LAP. These successes also strengthen the capacity of this company to satisfy the increasing lentil consumption seen in Sri Lanka. In fact in recent years Sri Lanka’s lentil consumption has grown; 1.3% of our monthly household expenditure is allocated for various pulses. In 2012 Sri Lanka imported lentils of all types to the value of $ 69 million and by last year these imports have increased by a huge 75% to $ 121 million. Lentil imports now claim more than 7% of our annual food and beverages imports. As for red lentils, on average, Sri Lanka imports $ 6.3 m of whole red lentils per month, which is $75 m annually. More than 70% of red lentil import expenditure went to non-refined whole red lentils.

In the 2008-2013 period Sri Lanka’s red lentil consumption rose by an estimated 20%. These growth trends show that it is time for lentil suppliers to switch to new technology. This is why we are pleased to stress that Lanka Agro Processing’s use of modern Buhler Swiss machines as a step in the right direction.”

According to the firm’s Chairman Bahardeen, who visits Australia for prior purchase inspections and regularly meets Aussie farmers one-to-one in Adelaide, etc., his firm Lanka Agro Processing plans to expand to a modern multi grain milling setup by 2017.

“This modern milling machine can process seven pulses and grains in one go. With this pioneering multi-processing tech, for the first time in Sri Lanka, local grain and pulse farmers would get a ready market.

They can grow such pulses here without second thoughts since our firm would readily buy their local output after 2017 and we can then save valuable foreign exchange spent for their imports,” said Bahardeen.