SriLankan Catering reigns at Culinary Expo 2017

The highly-skilled and experienced team at SriLankan Catering (SLC) bagged no less than 29 medals (seven Golds, 10 Silvers and 12 Bronzes) at Culinary Art Expo 2017, the premier international exhibition and competition organised by the Chefs Guild of Sri Lanka that was held for the 17th time in Colombo recently.

SriLankan Catering Executive Director Rakhita Jayawardene said: “Once again, our highly-skilled team has demonstrated its extraordinary talent, with 24 of our team members winning medals while competing in a wide range of categories versus some of the finest chefs in the country’s hotel and restaurant industry. This cements SLC’s position as an airline caterer and restaurant operator of choice, with the highest standards and levels of talent and innovation in the culinary industry. Within the past month, SLC Flight Kitchen at BIA Katunayake have experienced a multitude of achievements including the completion of 25,000 meals per day to be catered to the National Carrier SriLankan Airlines and all other global prestigious airlines touch down at the Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake.”

Chathura Karunasena won two Golds and two Silvers and Upul Marasinghe bagged two Golds, in the Scan Sunquick Mocktail Competition. Chathura was recognised for his outstanding performance by winning two Gold and two Silver medals and also the title for Most Outstanding Mixologist in Sri Lanka. Both are members of the staff of SLC’s Semondu Restaurant in Colombo, situated in the heart of Colombo, in the Old Dutch Hospital building. 

Meanwhile, S.A. Nilanka of the Production Division won a Gold in the New Sri Lanka Cuisine category; Shashi Prabha Medhavinee of the Restaurant Division won a Gold in the IDL Cocktail Competition; and Jagath Samarasinghe of the Production Division won a Gold in the Flambe Deserts category.

Silver medals were won by Sampath Danangala, Dinesh Paranamana, Palitha Perera, Prasanna Nawarathne, Wasantha Kumara Alponso, Sameera Samarakoon, Ishara Jayawardena and Indika Wickramasekera.

Bronze medals were won by Sampath Danangala, Dinesh Paranamana, Ranga Wickramarachchi, Ruwan Silva, Chaminda Wickremasinghe, Harsha Gayashan, Harsha Dilushan, Yoshan Chathuranga and Rajitha Gunawardene.  

Jayawardena and SriLankan Catering General Manager Lalith Withana honoured the winners with their presence at a felicitation ceremony held on 9 August organised by the Human Resources & Administration Division of SriLankan Catering. 

A fully-owned subsidiary of SriLankan Airlines, SriLankan Catering (www.srilankancatering.com) is the exclusive inflight caterer for all airlines that operate to Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA). It also provides an array of services for BIA’s lounges and restaurants, including catering, laundry and restaurant management. SLC’s diversified operations include the Serenediva BIA Transit Hotel; Semondu Restaurant in Colombo city centre; Aeroclean industrial laundry; and Vanilla Pod boulangerie and patisserie.

SLC holds no less than four global certifications – ISO 9001:2008 for Quality Management System; ISO 22000:2005 for Food Safety Management Systems; HACCP-Codex Alimentarius for Food Safety Assurance; and ISO 14001:2004 for Best Environmental Practices. Among its many accolades are Mercury Awards presented by the International Travel Catering Association (ITCA), Presidential Export Awards and National Energy Efficiency Awards.

More than 1,700 professionals in the catering industry from 165 hotels and restaurants competed in 34 categories in this competition, which is one of the largest food industry events in Asia, with winners being chosen by a panel of judges from World Association of Chefs’ Societies (WACS). Organised every two years by the Chefs’ Guild of Sri Lanka which is affiliated to WACS, Culinary Art serves as a platform for identifying the country’s culinary talent and for selection of teams for global competitions such as the Food Olympics, Global Chefs’ Challenge and Culinary World Cup.