by Suresh Perera
The purported “sacking” of the Lanka Sathosa Chairman over what was described as a “scandal” in the procurement of rice captured intense media attention, but Nushad Perera, who headed the country’s biggest retail chain, dismissed the claims as “bunkum”.
“I was neither sacked as Chairman nor was there a ‘rice deal’, as claimed”, he said last week.
He said that he resigned on December 31, 2020, to take up his new appointment as Chairman of the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) as the President wanted him to build up the national standards body to broad-base benchmarking the country’s export sector.
Highland rises as highest selling full cream milk powder at Sathosa outlets
Lanka Sathosa, the country’s largest retail network business, and MILCO, one of the country’s largest dairy companies, announced that they had successfully propelled Highland to rise above the competition and emerge as the highest selling full cream milk powder at Sathosa.
Working together, the two State sector entities strived relentlessly to promote home grown brand Highland’s locally manufactured full cream milk powder to consumers across 420 Sathosa outlets around the island.
Thanks to the combined efforts of the two organisations, Highland now accounts for one in every three packets of full cream milk powder sold on average at Sathosa outlets, rising from a basket share of less than 15% about a year ago.