National Packaging Centre (NPC) of the EDB was established for the promotion and development of the Packaging industry in Sri Lanka. It supports a wide range of stakeholders, including exporters, manufacturers, designers, SMEs, women entrepreneurs, students, and research institutions. By fostering collaboration among the government bodies and other partners, the NPC is playing a vital role in advancing Sri Lanka’s packaging industry and supporting sustainable growth in the agricultural export sector.

Accordingly, an awareness session focusing the packaging solutions for fruits and vegetable sector was recently conducted at the Export Development Board (EDB). One of the objectives for conducting this awareness session is to reduce the post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables through innovative packaging solutions and enhance the value of export products, benefiting the broader economy. In Sri Lanka post-harvest losses are significant, affecting 20% - 30% of vegetables and 15% - 20% of fruits. Inadequate packaging has been identified as a major cause of these losses. The session was conducted in collaboration with the Packaging Experts from the Industry and National Plant Quarantine Service with the participation of 70 exporters and potential exporters.

The session featured insightful lectures by Mr. W. Abhaya Senavirathna – Packaging Consultant, Mr. Dulesh Fernando – CEO (Packaging design83) and Ms. S.D.Kamani Priyadarshani – Deputy Director National Plant Quarantine Service. Key topics such as packaging concepts, packaging materials, packaging technology, packaging design and graphic design for fruits and vegetable packing as well as importance of plant quarantine certificate and process of obtaining the certificate   were mainly discussed. Participants also learned about the importance of proper packaging, selection of the most effective methods, and selecting the right materials to prevent product degradation.

Further, packaging experts provided tailored solutions on appropriate packaging methods for export potential entrepreneurs participated at the program. In addition, Mount Packs (Pvt) Ltd conducted a practical demonstration on packaging sample of corrugated boxes.

At the end of the program, an evaluation was conducted, due to the significant contributions made by the resource persons to enhance the capacity & knowledge, the participants have highly appreciated the usefulness of the programme.