Sanjeewa Dharmaratne, Assistant Miller, successfully bagged the Gold Medal for the Highest Achiever by securing first place in Milling Technology. Sanjeewa also won the “Best Student of the Year 2019” award in the International Flour Milling Technology course (ISMT) at the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) in Mysore, India. Sanjeewa out performed over 30 Indian and international students during the one-year full-time course. Serendib Flour Mills employees have a history of excelling in this reputed international course with Saheed Mohamed Shafrin, Assistant Miller, also winning the Gold Medal in 2016.
Sharing his thoughts on Sanjeewa’s achievement, Mohamed Hamza Khan Chief Technical Officer of Serendib Flour Mills stated, “The entire Serendib Flour Mills family offers our congratulations to Sanjeewa on his outstanding achievement in the Flour Milling Technology course. He has brought glory to both the company as well as the country through this win. This is a tough 1-year course that trains students on the latest technologies in milling. He was up against some tough competition with over 30 Indian and international students following the course. Through sheer hard work, determination and commitment, Sanjeewa has been able to outshine all of them and top the batch. That is indeed a great achievement and we are all very proud of him.”
The Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) is a pioneering organization in Research and Development in the area of Food Science and Technology and Human Resource Development. In 1981, the International School of Milling Technology (ISMT) was formed as a joint Indo-Swiss venture and Roller Flour Millers’ Federation of India project to serve the needs of flour milling industry in India and other developing countries with regard to training in flour milling technology. ISMT provides the facilities and expertise of CFTRI where students are taught milling systems as per international and Indian subcontinental standards. The award win by Sanjeewa continues a winning trend of Serendib Flour Mills employees in 2019. At the recently-concluded National Sales Congress (NASCO) 2019, organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM), the company’s employees bagged 3 awards – 2 Golds and 1 Bronze.
Ajith Thanthrige, Area Manager Central/East Region, who has over 12 years of experience at Serendib Flour Mills, won gold in the category “Corporate Sales: Territory Manager”. Indika Thushara Wijesinghe, Technical Sales Executive, who has over ten years’ background in the food industry, won gold in the category “Corporate Sales: Support Services”. Earlier this year at the company’s 5th Annual Sales Conference Indika was awarded the “7 Star Technical Executive of the Year 2018”. The bronze award was won by by KHC Sanjeewa, Sales Executive Negombo, in the “Corporate Sales: Sales Executive” category. KHC Sanjeewa has been part of Serendib Flour Mills since 2007 and was the winner of the coveted “7 Star B2B Sales Executive of the Year” Award at the 5th Annual Sales Conference. Since its inception, the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) NASCO awards program has rapidly become the premier event for Sri Lanka’s sales fraternity to recognize sales personnel among a diverse range of industries under their various job scopes. An eminent panel of judges selects the best sales performers in the country by prudently screening all entries.
Commenting on the NASCO wins, Kalinga Wijesekera, Head of Marketing and Communications of Serendib stated, “We are thrilled to have three of our sales team members win awards at SLIM NASCO 2019 by outshining individuals from numerous other corporate entities in the country. All sales professionals in the country eagerly await SLIM NASCO as they get the chance to battle each other to win prestigious awards. Winners are catapulted to the national platform, which benefits both their careers and the human capital profile of the company they represent. Last year was the first time we won 2 awards at SLIM NASCO and
this year we have progressed further by bringing home 2 Golds and a Bronze. This clearly shows that our Sales personnel have raised their game having demonstrated hard work, dedication, passion and professionalism.” Serendib Flour Mills (Pvt) Ltd. is a BOI approved flagship project funded by a renowned Dubai investor, the Al Ghurair Group. The company provides a wide variety of high quality, nutritious wheat flour products to bakers, eateries, hotels, households, industries and consumers across Sri Lanka. Operating from a state-of-the-art milling facility at the Colombo Port, Serendib Flour Mills adheres to the highest standards of quality and safety.
The company has received ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, BS OHSAS 18001:2007 and ISO 22000:2005 certifications and also makes continuous efforts to minimize its impact on the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and waste whilst championing energy and water conservation throughout its operations.