Keells Food Products

Keells Food Products is a Sri Lankan processed-meat company headquartered in Colombo. Founded in 1982, it was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in 1983. The company was established to address demand for consistent, quality food products in Sri Lanka’s hotel sector, and hotels and airlines have remained important long-term customers. Its business has also included production for export markets. The company’s principal consumer brand is Keells Krest, which has held a leading position in Sri Lanka’s processed-meat segment for several decades. The brand portfolio is associated with products such as sausages and other processed-meat offerings, while the company also supplies institutional and hospitality customers. Keells Krest has been identified among Sri Lanka’s most valuable brands; a 2022 estimate placed its brand value at LKR 1,127 million, representing a 12.6% increase from the previous year. A major expansion took place in 2012, when Keells Food Products acquired D&W Foods Ltd in Pannala for LKR 700 million. D&W Foods had been established as a Board of Investment-approved joint venture with a Belgian company to manufacture Frankfurter sausages for export. The acquisition doubled the company’s production capacity and strengthened its manufacturing base. Keells Food Products commissioned a new factory in the Makandura Industrial Zone in Pannala in 2019. The facility formed part of the company’s effort to expand and modernize production. The company has also maintained a visible connection with Sri Lankan cricket. It partnered with Sri Lanka Cricket to sponsor the South African cricket team’s 2014 tour of Sri Lanka and has been described as a long-term patron of cricket in the country. The company has faced pressures common to Sri Lanka’s food-manufacturing sector. In 1992, a government decision to impose a 30% luxury-item tax on processed meat reduced company profitability. Much later, the Sri Lankan economic crisis and high food inflation disrupted the supply chain of Keells Food Products and its sister company Ceylon Cold Stores. In the second quarter of 2022, the company’s direct costs reportedly increased by 81%. Keells Food Products has also received recognition for corporate social responsibility. Its CSR project won an award at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce’s 2012 Corporate Citizen Awards. In LMD 100’s 2020/21 edition, the company was ranked 15th in the second board, a ranking of publicly quoted Sri Lankan companies by annual revenue. Overall, Keells Food Products combines consumer packaged meat, food-service supply, export-oriented manufacturing, and a flagship brand with substantial recognition in Sri Lanka.

Keells Food Products was founded in Sri Lanka in 1982 and became a publicly listed company on the Colombo Stock Exchange in 1983. Its original business rationale was to help fill a supply gap for quality food products serving the hotel industry. Over time, hotels and airlines became established customers, alongside the company’s consumer and export activities. The company encountered a significant regulatory and tax challenge in 1992, when the Sri Lankan government imposed a 30% luxury-item tax on processed meat. The measure reduced profitability and illustrates the sensitivity of processed-food manufacturers to fiscal policy and product classification. Expansion accelerated in 2012 with the acquisition of D&W Foods Ltd in Pannala for LKR 700 million. D&W Foods was a Board of Investment-approved project created as a joint venture with a Belgian company to manufacture Frankfurter sausages for export markets. Integrating D&W Foods doubled Keells Food Products’ production capacity and broadened its industrial platform. In the same year, the company’s corporate social responsibility work received an award at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce’s Corporate Citizen Awards. Keells Food Products has also used sports sponsorship to build public visibility. It partnered with Sri Lanka Cricket for the South African cricket team’s 2014 tour of Sri Lanka and has maintained a long-term patronage of cricket in the country. The company’s main consumer brand, Keells Krest, became a long-standing leader in Sri Lanka’s processed-meat market and was later included among the country’s 100 most valuable brands. In 2019, Keells Food Products commissioned a new factory in the Makandura Industrial Zone in Pannala. This investment added to the company’s manufacturing infrastructure and followed the earlier capacity increase associated with the D&W Foods acquisition. The company has been assessed in Sri Lankan corporate rankings, including a 15th-place position in the second board of LMD 100’s 2020/21 edition, which ranks publicly quoted companies by revenue. The business entered the 2020s amid difficult economic conditions in Sri Lanka. High food inflation and the wider economic crisis disrupted supply chains affecting Keells Food Products and its sister company Ceylon Cold Stores. Reported direct costs increased by 81% in the second quarter of 2022. Despite these pressures, Keells Food Products remained associated with domestic processed-meat manufacturing, institutional supply, export-oriented capacity, and the Keells Krest consumer brand.

• 2022

  Inflation and supply-chain pressure

  [1]Keells Food Productsen.wikipedia.org

  Sri Lanka’s economic crisis and high food inflation disrupted supply chains, while direct costs rose sharply in the second quarter.

• 2019

  New Pannala factory

  [1]Keells Food Productsen.wikipedia.org

  The company commissioned a factory in the Makandura Industrial Zone in Pannala.

• 2014

  Cricket sponsorship

  [1]Keells Food Productsen.wikipedia.org

  Keells Food Products partnered with Sri Lanka Cricket to sponsor South Africa’s cricket tour of Sri Lanka.

• 2012

  D&W Foods acquisition

  [1]Keells Food Productsen.wikipedia.org

  The acquisition of D&W Foods in Pannala for LKR 700 million doubled production capacity and strengthened export-oriented manufacturing.

• 2012

  Corporate social responsibility award

  [1]Keells Food Productsen.wikipedia.org

  A company CSR project won recognition at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce’s Corporate Citizen Awards.

• 1992

  Processed-meat tax affects profitability

  [1]Keells Food Productsen.wikipedia.org

  A 30% luxury-item tax imposed on processed meat reduced the company’s profits.

• 1983

  Stock-market listing

  [1]Keells Food Productsen.wikipedia.org

  The company was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange.

• 1982

  Company founded

  [1]Keells Food Productsen.wikipedia.org

  Keells Food Products was established in Sri Lanka to supply quality food products, particularly to the hotel sector.

A Sri Lankan processed-food manufacturer positioned around quality, reliable supply, and broad distribution across consumer, hospitality, airline, and export channels.

• Processed meat

  Keells Krest

  Keells Krest is the company’s principal consumer-facing processed-meat brand. It has been described as a market leader in Sri Lanka’s processed-meat segment for approximately three decades and is associated with products including sausages and related prepared meat items. The brand is also recognized in Sri Lankan brand rankings.

• Processed meat

  Frankfurter sausages

  Frankfurter sausages were produced at the D&W Foods facility in Pannala, a Board of Investment-approved joint venture project established with a Belgian company. The facility was oriented toward export production before D&W Foods became part of Keells Food Products.

• 2014South African cricket team Sri Lanka tour sponsorship

  Sri Lanka

  Keells Food Products partnered with Sri Lanka Cricket to sponsor the South African cricket team’s 2014 tour of Sri Lanka. The initiative fit the company’s longer-term association with cricket sponsorship and patronage.

  Outcome. The sponsorship supported brand visibility around an international cricket event; a quantified commercial outcome is not reported.

  Source

• 2019

  Commissioning of Makandura factoryStrategy

  Background

  The company continued to expand its production infrastructure after the D&W Foods acquisition.

  Action taken

  Keells Food Products commissioned a new factory in the Makandura Industrial Zone in Pannala.

  Aftermath

  The new facility increased the company’s manufacturing footprint; further capacity or financial effects are not specified.

  Source

• 2012

  Acquisition of D&W FoodsM&A

  Background

  Keells Food Products sought to expand manufacturing capacity and build on an export-capable processed-meat operation in Pannala.

  Action taken

  The company acquired D&W Foods Ltd for LKR 700 million.

  Aftermath

  The acquisition doubled production capacity and added the capabilities of a facility originally established to produce Frankfurter sausages for export.

  Acquisition price. LKR 700 million (2012)

  Source

1. 1Keells Food Productsen.wikipedia.org