Otara to launch ‘Who We Are’ to support rural homemade products
As much as Odel needs no introduction Otara Gunewardene also doesn’t need one, as she is so synonymous with the country’s popular department store. She founded and successfully developed Odel brand and exited it, and then devoted time for her second project ‘Embark’ for the welfare of the street dogs which has grown into an islandwide project.
Now she is focusing on another welfare oriented project, this time to leverage her popularity to uplift the living standards of the rural industrial folk helping them to take their products to the forefront of local and international markets.
The project titled ‘Who We Are’, initially nurtured through her Otara Foundation was ready to be launched with much fanfare when the outbreak of COVID-19 disrupted the plan. It was to be launched in a colorful festival at Vihara Maha Devi Park, Colombo with the participation of many vendors of local products, local companies that came as sponsors and some foreign buyers. Now it is ready to be launched soon in a different form as a web and social media backed project.
With the support of her local and international partners she will be coming forward to help rural manufactures of a wide range of products which are suitable to venture into wider local and international markets.
Her long years of experience as an entrepreneur, marketing skills, international business partnerships and most of all her own popularity as a social media personality are sure to come in handy in accomplishing this national task.
This concept is much likely to go hand in hand with the post COVID -19 trends in our country where locally made products are encouraged. Exploring new markets for typically Sri Lankan rural products is a dire need in a situation where exports have become a top priority with zero income from tourism.
Sharing some thoughts on the new project with 'theinvesstor.lk' she said that there are many small entrepreneurs and businesses that don’t have the ability or the opportunity to reach the bigger market and she hopes to advise them and support them to reach that wider market.
“Earlier I wanted to have a bigger festival and it was to happen at the Vihara Maha Devi Park in April. I had 250 vendors to come and display and sell their products, but with the prevailing situation we couldn’t do it” she said.
“Now I am trying to do it in a different format online helping them to create a better platform and reach more customers. The exact details are not finalized yet. It’s all under ‘Who We Are’ which was also the theme of the festival I wanted to organize. I want to actually define ‘Who We Are’ really and communicate and help people to shop based on that concept. “
“For example when we shop we want to be conscious that we don’t hurt the environment, we don’t hurt animals, support Sri Lanka, support local talent and young entrepreneurs.”
She wants to target people who have started ventures at home with four or five people turning out things that are handmade and eco-friendly. “Most of them are creative doing their own little things, very specialized although not in big volumes. This includes cottage industries making wooden toys and clothes or even fruit and vegetable products.”
“Even on my social media pages I can give them visibility so that a lot of people can see what they are doing because I have many people following me. This is one part of the plan to help young entrepreneurs and small businesses who lack market reach.”
“How exactly it’s going to be is not yet finalized, but the idea is to give a platform for them to be visible and their products to be more accessible. Platform will be easily accessible and I have already got more than 200 vendors registered with me as they were all supposed to participate at the 'Who We Are' which was unfortunately cancelled in April.”
People from any age group and from anywhere can join this platform and already there are interested people from all areas of the country including southern and eastern provinces, she says.
“In the current context there are a lot of opportunities particularly with imports being restricted when people have lessor options they come up with many novel things using their own talents,” she says.
“Earlier it was easy to contact some supplier and import anything from abroad and that way Sri Lanka lost a lot of talent and creativity. We have a lot of traditional products including fruits and vegetables that can be marketed effectively,” she explained.
With COVID -19 there is much opportunity and according to her this is the most appropriate time to come up with the best of our local products and take them to wider sections of the local and international markets and that is the essence of her novel concept which will try to define “Who We Are’.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
