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A story of fortitude and determination, a saga of a business built over a decade, a century of service to the nation, through a family enterprise - this description may fall short to describe the bakery and confectionery products giant, Perera and Sons Bakers Ltd.

As one of the pioneers of bakery product business in Sri Lanka, the company, which celebrates 100 years of business in Sri Lanka this continuous to be a genuine, indigenous Sri Lankan company. Moreover, the present management - the fourth generation of Perera, believes that having completed 100 years of quality service to the nation is a rare feat by the company.

At this significant turn of the company, the Perera and Sons Group which had been a family business so far, plans to bring in more professionalism to the industry. It also plans to expand certain business activities enabling professionals to join and share their experiences in this diversified organisation. "We want to go beyond family business and introduce new skills and talents of the young to our organisation," Managing Director, Gihan Perera told the Daily News in an interview.

Over the years, a group of people breathed new life to this dynamic organisation. "The success of the our business can be attributed to the dedication, hard work and commitment of all who were with us since the company's inception," Mr. Perera said. He attributed the success of the company to the workers who were with them during thick and thin.

Due to good management policies introduced by the present management and their good relations with the workforce, there had not been any unnecessary work stoppages or strikes for the last decade. "We have done much to bridge the gap between the employer and employee in the past. At present the management works very closely with the employees. We understand each other's problems and work accordingly. This is one of the major areas which contributes to the growth of any company, he said.

"We emphasise on human resource development as we understand people's capabilities and how they should be trained to be productive employees. We also understand our potential in the future. To meet such a demand in the future, we should train our workforce through proper training," Mr. Perera said.

The company's head office is at Madinnagoda, Rajagiriya where its 300-member workforce do their best to bring out a range of quality bakery items.

The company has 54 outlets in Colombo and the suburbs and three fully mechanised bakeries in Colombo and one in Kurunegala.

"We are planning to branch out to Kandy and Galle. Among the company's best selling products are Choclate cakes, breuder and eclairs. During Christmas and New year season, Perera and Sons products also exported to Australia and the Netherlands.

Will the company have any major plans to mark the century of business? "Our plan this year is to break into overseas business. We are eyeing some of the South Asian markets. Nothing has been finalised as yet, but we have had some favourable discusiions with a partner in Bangladesh," Mr. Perera said. 

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