Community is at the heart of what we do at Botanicoir, and central to this is the local community in Sri Lanka, and our production centres in both Sri Lanka and India.
Our director, Samantha Balasuriya, explains that community engagement for us is about really being part of that community, not just a business providing jobs. “It’s important that we are ingrained in the community, as 30% of our employee base is local.
“It’s not just about helping financially, it is about understanding what the issues are, and supporting the community with all the resources that we have at our disposal, to make an effective difference to local people.
“In doing so, we hopefully become a force for good, and as a company, we benefit as well,” says Samantha.
“We use the phrase ‘our Botanicoir family,’ regularly. We started as a family business; just myself and my husband, Kalum, and his brother Chaminda, and other family members joined as we grew.
“We treat our employees as family as well – we are a very close-knit group. That’s how we introduce anyone new – with a ‘welcome to the family’ not just a welcome to the company,” she says.
Supporting community projects
Sam explains that Botanicoir has been sponsoring a local orphanage in Sri Lanka since 2005. “It was originally set up for children left without parents after the devastating tsunami of 2004. We help the orphanage by providing sufficient food, educational materials, and maintenance, as well as special events for the children and the opportunity for work experience when they reach 18 years old and leave the orphanage.
“We have been involved in improvements to local infrastructure, helping the local schools to build what they need, and we have helped to bring things like electricity to remote areas, as well as roads,” says Samantha.
“In the past our HR team has got children and schools involved in competitions and donated prizes to strengthen community bonds.
“On January 1 each year we organise a book donation for all our employees with children and we extended that to the local schools.
“We build really good relationships with local community leaders, religious leaders and school principals, who let us know some people were struggling to find the books they needed for their kids. We started this help after the first few years in business,” she says,
At Botanicoir we are involved in a local orphanage, temples and events and keeping those bonds helps us to identify these sorts of needs.
Benefitting the environment
Sam explains that Botanicoir is a member of LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) “LEAF is about inspiring and enabling sustainable farming that is prosperous, enriches the environment and engages local communities – subjects close to our heart.
“We try to make significant changes to the business to benefit the environment and in 2015 we were proud to be the first coir substrate producer to install a state-of-the-art waste water treatment system to ensure that our growing business had nothing but positive effects on the local environment.
“We have always offered recyclable plastic with our grow bags, but we wanted to go a step further in our commitment to global environmental sustainability. After years of research and trials, in 2019 we launched our first bio-degradable plastic for grow bags, which growers can simply mulch with the coir and spread on land, with zero negative impact on the local environment,” says Sam.
Future projects
We are looking at many future projects, and innovation and sustainability are always at the forefront for Botanicoir.
“In our coconut estates, we are looking at intercropping and introducing other products such as turmeric and cinnamon and we’ve started a small composting project. It is all about reusing and recycling so there is no waste at all. We prioritise environmental tests on the noise levels, air quality and ground water quality.
“In the future, we are looking to introduce solar panels, and electric vehicles.
“I think from the very inception of Botanicoir, we kept a positive attitude towards everyone and respect for others and the environment. We really listen to the community, rather than just powering ahead, and this is what we will continue to do, as we grow as a business,” adds Samantha.
