Uva Wellassa University and International Foodstuff Company (Pvt) Ltd. (IFCO) signed an agreement on November 15, 2014, in accordance with a mutual desire, to promote agriculture and agriculture related sectors of the country by working cooperatively and sharing the knowledge & skills, resources, and experience possessed by both parties. Activities to be undertaken, having signed the agreement, hopefully will contribute to produce of graduates who are competent, innovative, self-driven and entrepreneurial in development of agriculture and agriculture related sectors, through a strong practical experience. These graduates will in turn benefit the country in future. Based on this understanding, academic staff will experience their innovative ideas and capabilities through active participation in research and farm development process whereas IFCO will get an opportunity to develop their own property as a ‘Model Farm’ with new scientific know-how. Agreement was signed by Dr. Gamani Chandrasena, Vice Chancellor of Uva Wellassa University and Mr. Sarath De Silva, Founder Chairman of International Foodstuff Company (Pvt) Ltd. Event was attended by Dr. S.C. Jayamanne, Dean, Faculty of Animal Science and Export Agriculture, and Dr. Saman Herath, Senior Lecturer of the same Faculty, together with some Senior Personnel of IFCO.
IFCO is an exporting company that has been initiated with the vision to supply quality fruit, vegetable, & food products and related services to the utmost satisfaction of their customers in Maldives, the Gulf, and all other parts of the world. It has a strategy to accomplish their vision by sourcing high quality products from their frame network, adopting stringent quality control measures, continuously training their staff and upgrading the resources to meet the latest changes in technology. In 1979, the company commenced the export of fruit and vegetable, and since then, it has been engaging in the export of quality fresh vegetable, fruit and food products from Sri Lanka. Except fruits and vegetables, the company also exports coconut, dried fish and dried food products, building material, furniture and fittings etc. IFCO is a member of the National Chamber of Exporters in Sri Lanka and is registered with the Sri Lankan Export Development Board. It is also a member of the Sri Lankan Fruit & Vegetable Produces, Processes and Exporters Association (SLFVPPEA) and an approved Board of Investment (BOI) company. All these signs show that IFCO will be a leading exporting company in agriculture sector in due course.