Maliban facts for kids
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| Limited liability | |
| Industry | Biscuits Snack food |
| Founded | 1954 |
| Founder | Angulugha Gamage Hinni Appuhamy |
| Headquarters | Ratmalana, , |
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Area served
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International |
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Key people
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A. G. Kumudika Fernando (Group Chairperson) |
| Brands | Maliban Biscuits Maliban Milk (milk powder) Maliban Mineral Waters (mineral water) Zellers Chocolates Little Lion Bakeries |
Maliban Biscuit Manufactories is a very well-known company in Sri Lanka. It makes, sells, and distributes many tasty bakery products. Maliban is a private company, which means it's owned by individuals, not the government.
Contents
History
How it All Started
Maliban was started in 1954 by a person named Angulugaha Gamage Hinni Appuhamy. He was born in 1902 in a village called Akmeemana. When he was 17, in 1922, he moved to Colombo to find work.
In 1928, he opened a small tea shop on Maliban Street. Later, in 1935, he turned this shop into a small hotel. He then opened more hotels in different parts of Colombo. His brothers, A. G. Wickramapala and A. G. Jinadasa, joined him to help manage the growing business.
From Hotels to Biscuits
Mr. Appuhamy then opened a bakery. At first, it sold bread, but soon they started making handmade biscuits. One of their first popular biscuits was the Maliban Marie biscuit. To make more biscuits, he bought a special biscuit cutter from India.
He also bought some land in Kirulapana to start a dairy farm. This farm later moved to Nawala. The Kirulapana land was then used to bottle Maliban Mineral Waters by hand. He even started an ice cream business called Maliban Cream House in Colpetty.
Becoming a Big Company
After World War II, in 1945, all the businesses run by the three brothers became one company called Maliban Hotels Limited. This company included six hotels, a tearoom, an ice cream shop, a mineral water company, and a bakery.
On August 5, 1954, Maliban Biscuits began making biscuits on a large scale. They bought special machines from a company called Baker Perkins. The bakery part of Maliban Hotels Ltd then became its own company, Maliban Biscuit Manufactories Ltd.
Growth and Awards
In 1965, the company moved its operations to a new, much larger factory. This factory was built on a big piece of land in Ratmalana. Maliban was the first food company in Sri Lanka to win the National Quality Award in 1996. They won it again in 2010 and 2015.
The company also received the 'Global Performance Excellence Award' in 2016 and 2018. In 2020, they won the 'Brand Excellence Award' in Sri Lanka.
Modern Maliban
Hinni Appuhamy passed away in 1970, and his son, Rathnapala Samaraweera, took over the company. In the 1970s and 1980s, Maliban made most of the biscuits sold in Sri Lanka. In 1993, they added a new, modern factory that cost a lot of money. This helped them make even more biscuits.
Today, Maliban employs over 1,800 people. They work 24 hours a day, making 36 million packs of biscuits every year. Maliban exports its products to more than 35 countries around the world. They still have a large share of the biscuit market in Sri Lanka.
In 2020, Maliban announced that it would also start making medicines. This was part of a plan to help Sri Lanka make its own medicines.
On August 21, 2024, A. G. Kumudika Fernando became the new chairperson of the Maliban Group. She took over after her father, A. G. Ratnapala Samaraweera, who was the previous chairman, passed away.
See also
