Kola Kenda to your doorstep

Mobile app that brings

How do you market Kola Kenda to those who are fastidious about buying it from a street vendor? Mohamed Farshan’s latest concept, Kola Kenda Malli hopes to do just that by popularizing Kola Kenda, or herbal porridge among the upper middle class, corporate worker and jogger majority.

On April 22, 2019, entrepreneur and long-time environmental activist, Farshan set off for Nawam Mawatha in a Dimo Batta loaded with a stove and cauldron to sell Kola Kenda, so he could fund his tree planting project which was envisioned in the heat of the 2015 green revolution. But it was bad timing. It was the day after the Easter Sunday bombing and Farshan was forced to face many challenges. But his perseverance paid off when he became the, go to person, for Kola Kenda, that even Cinnamon Gardens could not do without. The slogan was ‘One cup for one plant’ and his Kola Kenda Batta became something of a mascot. By then he had reached his maximum production capacity and hoped to, one day, recruit other Kola Kenda producers to enable the extension of supply to households island-wide, through a mobile app.

With the success of the business, it took on a whole new concept, by opening a delivery service. Farshan aka ‘Gas Fara’, of ‘Green Walk’ and ‘Share the Dreams’ fame was no stranger to social media campaigns and his current project was bolstered by social media promotion. His agenda was to market Kola Kenda to the upper middle class, using T-shirt clad delivery people. But COVID-19 again forced him several steps back. After selling the only piece of land he owned Farshan launched the first ever Kola Kenda delivery app, under the slogan, ‘Kola Kenda ithirena nawa wasarak wewa!’ (A lucky year brimming with Kola Kenda!), in early January 2021.

Farshan no longer makes Kola Kenda, but has recruited an army of Kola Kenda producers, for whom he supplied the necessary capital, including containers that cost around 12,000 rupees each, smart phones, blenders and disposable cups. According to Farshan, each agent cost around Rs 70,000. “The major obstacle for entrepreneurship is always money,” said Farshan. The recovery process is straightforward. When the daily income of agents exceeds Rs 10,000, they are expected to repay Rs 300 a day. “We don’t exactly keep tabs, but the least agents could do is be transparent,” said Farshan.

The Colombo District is currently covered by six agents and Gampaha District by four. Farshan hopes to extend the business to Kandy, Matale, Kalutara, Ratnapura, Galle and Matara by the end of January. “Our ultimate target is 500 agents island-wide.” A cup of Kola Kenda is 10 rupees, which includes all production costs, such as the cost of raw material along with the disposable cup, social media advertising, web and app maintenance costs.

Farshan, who endorses reconciliation in real life as well as on social media, made sure that his business was racially equally represented by bringing into the fold Kola Kenda makers of all races. Long-time friend, Sri Lanka martial arts and Angampora trainer Piyumal Edirisinghe has always been supportive of Farshan’s efforts and was able to provide technical support to administer the agent network of Kola Kenda Malli, through his software company, Ceilanco Tech. Edirisinghe is also tasked with ensuring efficiency of service while maintaining the quality of the product.

The Kola Kenda Malli website www.kolakanda.com boasts of a variety of herbal based porridge, from Karapincha (curry leaves), Heen bovitiya (eight stamen osbeckia), Kuppameniya (Indian Acalypha), Divul (wood apple) leaves, Gonika (Salaparni) leaves, Yaki Narang (Ceylon Atalantia) leaves, Ranawara (Tanner’s cassia) leaves, Gotukola (Pennywort), Welpenela (Welpenela), Monarakudumbiya (Little Ironweed), Iramusu (Indian sarsparilla), Polpala (Balipoovu), Undupiyaliya (creeping tick trefoil), tender Elabatu (Eggplant) leaves to Hathawariya (Wild asparagus). The site also lists the many benefits of regular consumption, such as increased immunity, regeneration, delaying of aging process, detoxing, beside being nutrient rich and enhancing beauty. Their hotline is 077 19 84 424, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kolakendasl/ and link to the android app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kola_kanda

As Kola Kanda Malli website points out that colonizers stigmatized consumption of Kenda by introducing the phrase ‘Kenda biwwa wage’ (Like having drunk porridge), roughly meaning fatigued or experiencing a lack of vitality. The ulterior motive was to popularize bed tea. Later multinational dairy companies took the cue to market milk powder. The Farshan-Edirisinghe duo hopes to replace the bed tea concept with a glass of Kola Kenda, providing employment opportunities to multitudes, as agents, in the process.

Farshan still continues his tree planting project without much fanfare and hopes to take up a new challenge once Kola Kenda Malli gets off ground. At an age when Muslims are stigmatized by the majority, for demanding the burial of COVID-infected dead and deforestation, perhaps Kola Kenda Malli is a good enough reason to see the positive in the Muslim.