Few brands are as closely tied to Sri Lankan life as Elephant House, present at family gatherings, school breaks, and everyday celebrations. Its products, from Cream Soda to EGB and signature ice creams, have become cultural icons. Yet nostalgia alone is no guarantee of survival in a market where consumer demands shift swiftly.
Health, sustainability, and digital convenience now shape what people buy and how they engage with brands. Recognising this shift, Elephant House has responded with a sharper focus on innovation. Its “Feel Good” range, for example, offers wellness-friendly products with lower sugar and healthier ingredients, while premium lines such as IMORICH meet demand for indulgence and quality. Seasonal flavours tied to local festivals help keep the brand culturally rooted and relevant. Packaging is changing too, with a move towards cans, PET, and paper to support recycling. Meanwhile, its marketing has evolved to reach younger, digital-first audiences through authentic storytelling and targeted messages.
Through this cycle of change, Elephant House remains committed to respecting its past while preparing for the future. As the company diversifies its portfolio of products, it relies on data and fresh consumer insights, while revisiting its plans often to stay relevant across categories. Daminda Gamlath, President, Consumer Foods Industry Group of John Keells Holdings PLC, and Nelindra Fernando, CFO, Consumer Foods Industry Group of John Keells Holdings PLC, explain how the brand aims to preserve the trust built over generations while adapting to tomorrow’s challenges.
Elephant House is one of Sri Lanka’s most progressive brands. How do you ensure that your strong brand identity does not become a constraint in responding to new market realities?
Daminda: Being a progressive brand is both a privilege and a responsibility. At Elephant House, we embrace our heritage without letting it hold us back. In fact, it’s the very foundation that propels us forward. We continuously evolve, not just in what we do but in how we think. As consumer expectations change rapidly, we prioritise closely tracking emerging trends, behaviours, and cultural shifts.
Whether it’s developing new flavours, introducing innovative packaging formats like our Can range, or refreshing our communications to connect with younger audiences, we’re always looking for ways to stay relevant. To us, being progressive means anchoring ourselves in a strong identity while taking a forward-thinking approach. Our innovation mindset helps us stay agile, while our heritage gives us credibility and trust. This balance is what keeps Elephant House meaningful for today’s consumers, while still honouring its place in the hearts of generations past.
How is the brand evolving to remain culturally relevant in a consumer environment increasingly shaped by health consciousness, digital access, and shifting lifestyle preferences?
Nelindra: The evolution of the consumer landscape has been striking, particularly in the areas of health and wellness, digital connectivity, and changing lifestyles. At Elephant House, we’ve responded with deliberate and focused initiatives. One of the most significant shifts has been the launch of our “Feel Good” range, which reflects our commitment to providing “better for you” options. These are products specifically designed for today’s health-conscious consumers, making them lower in sugar, mindful of ingredients, and aligned with global wellness trends.
Our portfolio is also much broader today as we cater to a diverse audience across age groups, cultural segments, and lifestyle preferences. While we continue to serve the mass market, we’ve also introduced premium offerings like IMORICH ice cream to appeal to consumers looking for indulgence and quality.
We’ve taken steps to speak to younger audiences more directly as well. The launch of our VIBE range in cans is a great example. It’s fun, fruity, convenient, and very much in tune with what Gen Z is looking for, not just in terms of product, but also how it’s communicated. Our marketing now places greater emphasis on digital platforms and contemporary storytelling that feels authentic to younger consumers.
Cultural relevance also means respecting traditions, which is why we’ve introduced seasonal, limited-edition products aligned with key moments in the Sri Lankan calendar, such as our Dates ice cream during Ramazan, Winter Slice for Christmas and limited editions during Sinhala & Tamil New Year. These offerings keep us connected to consumers not just as a brand, but as part of their everyday and celebratory moments.
To what extent does nostalgia continue to drive brand loyalty, and how do you balance this with the need to attract a new generation of consumers with different expectations?
Daminda: Nostalgia is incredibly powerful, especially for a brand like Elephant House that has touched countless lives for over 150 years. Products like Cream Soda, EGB, or even our ice creams aren’t just consumables; they’re part of people’s memories. We see this in how customers recall childhood memories, family gatherings, or even school canteen treats with our products.
At the same time, we’re very aware that a brand cannot live on nostalgia alone. That’s why we’ve built a brand architecture that honours the past while actively engaging the future. The Elephant House brand itself continues to appeal to a wide consumer base, but we’ve also developed sub-brands like Wonder, IMORICH and VIBE that stand on their own, targeting new usage occasions and different consumer mindsets.
This portfolio segmentation allows us to stay relevant without diluting what people love about the original brand. It’s about creating emotional continuity while staying functionally relevant, and we believe that’s the key to building loyalty across generations.
How has the company adapted its innovation pipeline and marketing strategy to address changes in consumer demand, particularly around sugar, sustainability, and packaging?
Nelindra: On the sustainability front, we’ve been deeply focused on packaging innovation. We now offer multiple formats, including PET, paper-based solutions (Tetra), and Cans. Through our CSR arm, Gunadamin Elephant House, we have partnered with 15 Material Recovery Facilities (MRF centres) as of last year and partnered with local communities to actively promote recycling and plastic recovery. Additionally, the company continues to expand its renewable energy and continues efforts to lower its carbon emissions and electricity waste. Our marketing strategy also reflects these values. We’re becoming more transparent in our communication, more inclusive in our campaigns, and increasingly digital-first.
What is Elephant House’s strategy development process?
Daminda: Our strategy is shaped through a structured 5-year planning process, which we review and recalibrate annually. It allows us to take a long-term view while staying agile in responding to short-term market shifts. This process involves cross-functional collaboration and is driven by a blend of consumer insights, market intelligence, operational feasibility, and financial forecasting. Importantly, we revisit our strategic priorities each year to reflect the evolving macroeconomic landscape, consumer expectations, and business realities, whether it’s product diversification, portfolio restructuring, or regional expansion.
How does the brand manage its portfolio to avoid dilution, particularly as it stretches across categories from beverages to ice cream, while maintaining coherence?
Nelindra: Staying relevant across categories while evolving with consumer needs is central to how we manage our portfolio. Portfolio management is something we take very seriously. We regularly conduct tail-end cutting exercises to retire SKUs that no longer perform or align with our strategy. This helps us allocate resources effectively and stay focused on what matters. We also conduct portfolio rationalisation reviews to ensure we have the right product mix, one that delivers maximum value. Our architecture is designed to support coherence across categories while allowing the brand to evolve with consumer needs.
In the ice cream category, Elephant House functions as a strong house brand with direct consumer visibility. In beverages, it is the individual flavour brands, such as Cream Soda, EGB, and Necto, that are promoted more prominently, with Elephant House serving as an endorsing brand. This strategic flexibility ensures the brand stays relevant in every category while remaining anchored to its core identity. That internal clarity helps us execute consistently across branding, communication, and channel strategy. It’s this discipline that allows us to stretch across formats, audiences, and occasions without losing sight of the brand’s vision.
What specific metrics or consumer signals do you use to assess whether legacy equity is translating into long-term relevance in a market defined by rapid change?
Daminda: We look at both brand-level and product-level signals. At the brand level, we conduct brand health tracking to assess awareness, recall, trust, and relevance. At the product level, regular consumer preference studies and taste tests help us measure alignment with expectations. Digitally, we track engagement, sentiment, and conversion metrics across campaigns. From a commercial standpoint, we monitor repeat purchases, velocity, and market share by category. Finally, we use advanced analytics to gather deep consumer insights from purchase patterns to regional preferences, which help us pivot quickly when needed. All of this enables us to assess whether our brand equity is resonating, evolving, and converting into meaningful business performance in today’s fast-changing market.
Further information about the 100 Most Valuable Brands in Sri Lanka:
Sri Lanka’s Top 100 Most Valuable Brands
Introducing Brand Finance and Sri Lanka’s Most Valuable Brands
Brand Valuation Methodology: Identifying Sri Lanka’s Top 100 Brands