"Economic benefits of Cocogreen most visible in Sri Lanka"

Setting new standards in the global coir substrate market, Cocogreen is the first and only coir manufacturer to be fully accredited in quality, environmental and social areas of its business across all sites.

The company, which is a leading supplier of quality coir products to the soft fruit, glasshouse salads and ornamental sectors, was recently presented with the new Social Accountability Standard SA8000 at a ceremony attended by John Rankin, the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka. "It is here in rural Sri Lanka in particular that the economic benefits of the Cocogreen success story are most visible,” said John Rankin. “The potential social and economic benefits for areas home to Cocogreen facilities like here in Ganewatte, and at Kuliyapitia and Kurunegala are enormous. This helps Sri Lankans tackle poverty in areas where employment opportunities are most scarce.”


Speaking during the accreditations presentation ceremony at Ganewatte, the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, John Rankin, (left) said Cocogreen was helping Sri Lankans tackle poverty in areas where employment opportunities are most scarce.

“Earlier this year we gained the quality ISO9001:2008 accreditation across all our Sri Lankan production facilities and became the first quality coir substrate manufacturer to join LEAF - Linking Environment and Farming,” says Thomas Ogden, Cocogreen sales and marketing director. “We have now gained SA8000 accreditation, which measures social compliance with elements including child labour, discrimination, working hours and remuneration.”

One of the world’s first auditable social certification standards for decent workplaces, SA8000 is based on conventions of the UN and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). It is audited by SGS, the global benchmark for quality and integrity, and by Social Accountability International.


Uniform Root Systems using Cocogreen’s Moisture Control Technology.

Cocogreen has become a global player in the growing media sector supplying 40 countries with coco peat and coconut derived products across the professional and retail sectors.

While its International Sales HQ is in Manchester, its production roots are firmly in Sri Lanka where it has a 300 strong fulltime local workforce, with another 300 working up to ten months of the year.

The only fully vertically integrated coir manufacturer and supplier, Cocogreen has full control over the supply chain from the raw material, harvested from its own coconut plantations, through to the final value added product and on the ground technical support.

“While seeing tremendous growth, particularly in the last decade, Cocogreen has not overlooked the importance of acting as a responsible and fair business,” says Thomas Ogden. “Rather than exporting a part-finished low value low quality raw material, we set out to export from Sri Lanka high quality and value added products – a fair trade for the local economy. We look forward to being a major contributor in cementing the island’s position as the number one coir substrate exporter in the world.”

For more information
Cocogreen
Thomas Ogden
T: +44 0161 2426852
T: +44 07411 917039
togden@cocogreen.co.uk