Ceylon Biscuits Limited facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Ceylon Biscuits Limited

Formerly	Williams Confectionery Limited
Industry	Food
Founded	1939; 86 years ago (1939) Dehiwala, Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.
Founder	Simon Arthur Wickramasingha
Headquarters	Pannipitiya, Colombo , Sri Lanka
Area served	International
Key people	R S A Wickramasingha (Chairman) E T De Zoysa (Chairman)
Products	Biscuits Chocolate Cakes Jelly Snacks Soy based products Cereal products Organic products Soups
Brands	Munchee (biscuits) Ritzbury (chocolate) Tiara (cakes) Lanka Soy (soy products) Nutriline (breakfast cereals) Samaposha (breakfast cereals) Go Jelly (jellies) Samaayu (herbal porridge) Rasa Hari (soups) Cecil (fruits and nuts) Hi Tapper (treacle and jaggery) Ramba (snack foods) Revello (chocolate)
Revenue	Rs. 1.996 billion (2018)
Operating income	Rs. 561.730 million (2018)
Net income	Rs. 118.604 million (2018)
Total assets	Rs. 1.364 billion (2018)
Total equity	Rs. 1.008 billion (2018)
Owner	CBL Investments Limited (71.38%) People's Leasing & Finance (7.44%) Dawi Investment Trust (6.75%)
Number of employees	286 (2018)
Parent	CBL Investments
Subsidiaries	CBL Foods International CBL Natural Foods Convenience Foods (Lanka) Plenty Foods CBL Exports CBL Bangladesh Star United

Ceylon Biscuits Limited (known as CBL or Munchee) is a big food company in Sri Lanka. They make Munchee biscuits and are one of the oldest biscuit makers there. This company sells 60% of all biscuits in Sri Lanka.

History of CBL

CBL's biscuits factory (on the left) is situated next to the intersection of Southern Expressway

The story of CBL began in the 1930s. A man named Simon Arthur Wickramasingha bought a small factory. This factory made biscuits by hand.

Starting Williams Confectionery

In 1939, the company officially started. It was called Williams Confectionery Limited. It was in Dehiwela and had ten employees. In 1957, the factory got new machines from the UK. This made biscuit making much faster. When Simon Arthur Wickramasingha passed away in 1961, his four sons took over the business.

Helping School Children

In the 1960s, the Ministry of Education worked with an organization called CARE. They gave milk and buns to school children. This was to help them get enough food. But it was hard to keep the buns fresh. So, CARE looked for other options. They decided that biscuits would be better. Mineka Wickramasingha, one of the sons, won the contract to make these special biscuits.

Building a New Factory

The old factory in Dehiwala was too small. So, in July 1968, a new biscuit factory opened in Pannipitiya. This new factory was for making the high-protein biscuits for CARE. This factory was run by a new company, Ceylon Biscuits Limited (CBL). CBL bought two new biscuit making lines from Germany. One was for the school biscuits. The other was for regular biscuits for everyone to buy. CBL made biscuits for the school program until 1988.

Introducing Munchee Biscuits

With the new factory, CBL started selling biscuits under the brand name Munchee. They created new types like Hawaiian Cookies and Milk Short Cake. They also made popular biscuits like nice, ginger, and date biscuits.

Growing with New Products

In the early 1980s, CBL got more machines. They partnered with another biscuit company, Associated Biscuits (AB). This helped CBL make famous biscuits like Huntley & Palmers' cream crackers. Later, they also started making their own cream crackers and wafers.

In 1991, CBL started making chocolate. Their chocolate brand is called Ritzbury. They bought machines to make individual chocolates. They also made chocolate-coated biscuits. They even started making chocolate fingers.

In 2000, CBL bought a big share in Soy Foods (Lanka) Limited. This company made soy products under the brand Lanka Soy. CBL helped Lanka Soy become much more popular.

Expanding into Cakes and More

In 2002, CBL started CBL Foods International. This new company made cakes under the brand Tiara. The new factory opened in 2004. CBL also moved its chocolate making to this new factory.

CBL continued to grow. In 2004, they bought a part of Cecil Food (Pvt) Limited. This company made organic dried fruits, juices, and cashews. CBL also worked with an Italian company, Ferrero SpA. This allowed them to sell popular products like Nutella and Tic Tac in the region.

New Supermarkets

In 2014, CBL launched its own supermarket chain called Star United. They had 30 franchised supermarkets in Sri Lanka. In 2017, CBL also partnered with the international supermarket brand Spar. They opened the first Spar supermarket in Thalawathugoda, Colombo. Their plan is to open many more Spar stores in Sri Lanka.

Today, CBL is one of the top makers of biscuits, chocolates, and sweets in Asia.

CBL's Success in the Market

CBL's brands have become very popular in Sri Lanka.

Ritzbury Chocolate Success

When Ritzbury chocolate started in 1991, it was the fourth biggest chocolate brand. By 2006, it became the second biggest. It had 21% of the chocolate market. By 2010, Ritzbury was the number one chocolate maker in Sri Lanka. It had 47.2% of the market. By 2013, its share grew even more to 55%.

Lanka Soy's Growth

When CBL bought Lanka Soy, it only had 15% of the soy product market. But by 2002, it grew to 25%. By 2003, Lanka Soy became the market leader with 30% of the market.

Awards and Recognition

CBL has won many awards both in Sri Lanka and around the world. These awards show how well the company makes its products and how much people like them.

Recent Awards for CBL

See also

• Marie biscuit
• Maliban Biscuit Manufactories Limited