Research is the key to CIC’s success

As one of Sri Lanka’s leading blue-chip conglomerates, CIC Holdings is committed to remaining relevant, and has the ability to adapt with the customer and the changing operating environment. To this end, CIC leverages its significant prowess in research to successfully anticipate wants and needs which are constantly evolving, and to offer products and services which enhance the lives of its customers.      

CIC Holdings is the only company to own and operate seed and soil laboratories, and the company’s seed paddy enterprise has made a significant impact in the local agriculture landscape with the extensive research and trials carried out on the farms, including the introduction of a new variety of rice. The red basmati rice has a low glycaemic index, meaning that it releases sugar slowly, making it a healthier option, and is the first to be introduced in the country by any private sector entity.

Strengthening its already existing inventory, a new strain of hybrid corn seed of enhanced quality and yield was registered by CIC during 2011, while over 150 acres of farmland are under cultivation with a premium strain of bananas, which is predominantly marketed locally under the brand ‘CIC Quality Banana’.

CIC Holdings has capitalised on the opportunities presented as a result of research and development and productivity improvement in agriculture. Having achieved self-sufficiency in rice production, the company is now moving on to exporting the surplus available. The development of new quality rice varieties has enabled CIC to target ethnic markets in USA, Australia, and Europe, and afforded the company the ideal positioning to export rice to discerning and accessible markets.

CIC Holdings operates one of the most advanced and most up-to-date tissue culture laboratories in the country. As a direct result of the research conducted at this laboratory, CIC exports over 180 varieties of native Australian plants which are imported and multiplied, and sent back to Australia, as well as tissue cultured ornamental plants which are sent to Denmark.  

The company is currently extending their reach to the region, with the tissue culture lab setting up a satellite facility in Bangladesh to augment the processing of certain plant species, specifically targeting the expansion in to Australia in particular.  

With Link Natural Products, CIC’s research focuses on methods of bringing customers all the benefits of herbal medicine combined with the convenience of modern Western medicine. Clinical trials conducted on Samahan, Link’s hallmark product, produced highly favourable results which were widely reported in the Ceylon Medical Journal. The trials were conducted amongst a sample consisting of 800 participants who reported on the alleviation of 15 cold and cold-related symptoms after the consumption of Samahan.

The herbal industry relies on plants, most often rare indigenous varieties, which are not always the products of organised cultivation. Therefore, CIC draws on the synergies of its tissue culture laboratory to find solutions for growing certain forest species under controlled farm conditions. With sustainability at the core of its production model, CIC farms utilise the research resources to grow their own requirements without the arbitrary harvesting of natural reserves.    

The ability of CIC Holdings to look ahead with a clear plan and focus on the future has been one of the company’s greatest strengths. In this regard, the company has formulated ‘Plan 2020’, which is the group’s blueprint for its future progress till the year 2020. Whilst simultaneously developing all major areas of business, much of the strategy of this plan will focus on going through a process of research and development.