Harischandra Mills

Harischandra Mills PLC is a food processing company in Sri Lanka. Founded by C. A. Harischandra in 1943, Harischandra Mills was a pioneer in employee provident funds, establishing one in 1952, six years before the national Employees' Provident Fund. The company was incorporated in 1953 and listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in 1983. Now in its third generation, it remains a family-managed business. The Harischandra brand is a household name and was ranked among the 100 most valuable brands in Sri Lanka in 2022. The government’s import ban on certain agricultural products impacted the company, leading to a significant reduction in production.

History
C. A. Harischandra is the founder of Harischandra Mills. Harischandra was the fourth son of Canduda Arachchige Odiris de Silva, a wealthy businessman. In 1938, Harischandra returned to his native Matara after graduating from the University of Colombo with a degree in Economics. He initially managed his father's cinema and printing press before deciding to start a business of his own. He founded Harischandra Mills in 1943 with a capital of LKR25,000 on a plot of land of 20 perches in Matara. The company commenced a provident fund in 1952 and it precedes the government instituted Employees' Provident Fund by six years. Harischandra Mills was incorporated as a limited liability company in 1953. In 1959, the company was converted into a public company and allocated 40% of its stocks to employees. Harischandra Mills was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in 1983.

Operations
Harischandra Mills is still a family-managed company despite 41.17% public holding. S. N. Samarasinghe, the grandson of C. A. Harischandra is the managing director of the company. Harischandra is a household name for coffee, noodles, Kurakkan flour and Ulundu flour. The company also has a sizeable market share in rice flour, laundry bar soap and blue soap. Since family businesses' success depends on a smooth transition of leadership, a study found the need for Harischanda Mills to have a solid succession plan.

A study conducted on the impact of corporate social responsibilities of Harischandra Mills concluded that even though the company abide by environmental laws and regulations, the company does not engage in environmental conservation programmes. The released smoky air and wastewater have caused problems for the community. Harischandra is one of the 100 most valuable brands in Sri Lanka. In 2022, the brand value of Harschandra is LKR1,254 million. Harischandra Mills is placed 19th on the "second board" of LMD 100 rankings in the 2020/21 edition, an annual list of quoted companies in Sri Lanka by revenue. In 2020, the import ban on several agricultural crops imposed by the government left Harischandra Mills with a scarcity of raw materials. As a result, the company slashed the production of Ulundu flour by 90%.