The Founder: Featuring Madushi Adhikaramge

In this week’s edition of The Founder, we feature an entrepreneur who launched her brand Dammy’s, in 2020, amidst the global pandemic. She is an alumnus of Bishop’s College, Colombo and Stafford International School and she is armed with a BA (Hons) in Business Management from RMIT University, Australia and an MBA from Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK. Madushi Adhikaramge is a young entrepreneur based out of Colombo. 

1.In your own words, what is Dammy’s? We are creators of homemade chutney jars filled with flavour and love. We are a niche food brand producing chutneys made using locally-sourced, fresh, organic produce. At present we produce Ambarella, Dates, Mango and Pineapple chutneys. We are also in the process of testing out recipes using local fruits such as Ceylon olive, Biling, Woodapple, Guava and Tamarind. Our small team loves spending time in the kitchen experimenting with new fruits and developing new recipes. 

2.What inspired you? The pandemic! Being in lockdown for weeks at end, I used my time at home to nurture my passion for cooking. Being a mother of a one-year-old baby daughter keeps me on my toes 24/7, however owing to the lockdown, my husband, Lahiru, was at home and he was able to help with all the household chores. Hence, I had time to spend in the kitchen experimenting with different recipes. My daughter’s name is Dhahamsa and we call her ‘Dammy.’ 

3.What was the journey like, starting from scratch and building the business up to where it is right now? When I initially started experimenting in the kitchen, I didn’t know how to make a chutney. I tried several recipes and failed miserably. My husband was my guinea pig, and my biggest critic, as he’s the one who was missing his chutney during lockdown. Finally, I decided to create my own recipe using the basic ingredients. I stopped following recipes on Google and YouTube. I kept mixing different ingredients and making small quantities until I was 100% satisfied with the taste. I would have easily made over twenty-five different batches at the start. Once I had impressed my husband with the taste and got his seal of approval, I dispatched some jars to my parents, my brother and my sister-in-law. My family are all foodies; they appreciate good food and spend most evenings trying out different restaurants and cuisines. Hence, I knew if they approved – I would be good to go! This was followed by the launch of my Facebook and Instagram pages for the brand, and voila, I started retailing online. Once, I started getting regular orders I employed two members to join my home kitchen. 

Currently, I’m also speaking with boutique concept stores, online specialty food stores and supermarkets to start retailing my products to a wider audience. 

4.Share with us a few difficult decisions that had to be made at the start? Making decisions pertaining to packaging and pricing. Although, I am a niche brand, I was conscious of my packaging and pricing. I wanted to be competitively priced despite using premium quality, organic produce. I also wanted to create a jar that was pretty to look at so that a customer would feel happy to display the jar on a dining table even when entertaining guests at home. I spent hours on Pinterest and sat with a designer to create the look and feel I have envisioned for my product. My husband designed the brand logo. 

5.What has been the most frustrating thing about being a start up? Nothing so far! I'm very optimistic and really excited to keep growing my brand. My nearest and dearest have all been very supportive and encouraging; they inspire me and motivate me to keep developing my brand. 

6.Explain a few marketing strategies you have implemented, and what makes them successful? In Sri Lanka, the perception is to enjoy Chutney with rice and curry. I would like to change that and market chutney as a dip that can be paired with cheese and crackers, spread generously on a sandwich or even as a salad dressing. Being a niche brand, I am heavily dependent on Social Media. All my customers have purchased our products via Social Media. Hence, at present my entire advertising and marketing budgets are spent on Facebook and Instagram. We also engage with Social Media Influencers and collaborate with them to promote our products. 

7.What motivates you to do what you do on a daily basis? Feedback from my customers. It brings a smile to my face every time I read positive feedback sent by my customers. It makes me want to keep doing better, churn more varieties and offer new products to my clients. Also, being a mother to a baby daughter, I am motivated to build a business so that I can teach my daughter that a woman can do both; be a mother and an entrepreneur. As women, we don’t need to make a choice, we can balance both! 

8.How did you get the initial start up capital? From day one I set aside funds and created a budget. I was determined to stay within that budget and not overspend at the start. I dipped into my savings and used my own personal funds to launch my company. I didn’t want to borrow from anyone. I wanted the entire project to be entirely mine. 

9.What separates Dammy’s from its competitors? Dammy’s is a homemade product made using premium quality, locally-sourced, organic produce. It’s not your usual chutney. It has a different twist to it and taste – try it. 

10.What is your take on the current state of the food industry in Sri Lanka? I personally feel one of the best things to come out of this pandemic is our desire to buy locally manufactured products. I have seen how several home-bakers have emerged after lockdown; Quarantine Bakers! Several local startups are now producing local products manufactured using local produce. 

Furthermore, consumers have also become more health-conscious post-lockdown and hence, they are now keen to purchase products made using organic, fresh ingredients. 

11.Why did you decide to enter this industry? Well it’s a thriving industry. Sri Lankan’s are well-known foodies. We love our food, be it a simple Hopper or an international dish. Food companies always succeed in Sri Lanka and being a foodie and hailing from a family of foodies, it was almost a natural thing for me to do – to start a food related business. 

12.Who are your role models? My parents. My father is an extremely humble, simple man with a lot of passion and ambition. He successfully grew his own business and passed it on to my brother, Shalika, after his retirement. He taught my brother and I to always think out of the box and to be fearless. His motto was to always be humble but to remain motivated and driven. My mother on the other hand, is the most kindhearted person I know. She always pushed us to help those in need and to always keep a smile on our lips and to try speak words of kindness whenever we can. The two of them will always remain my biggest sources of inspiration. 

13.Have you tried and failed with anything in the past? Thankfully,  I haven’t failed as yet but I did once try to do a desk-job working at a private sector organization and I didn’t enjoy it very much. I soon realized that I wasn’t happy simply following instructions and executing orders; I was bored and it wasn’t challenging for me. Needless to say, that job didn’t last very long.

14.What is the end goal for Dammy’s? As Dammy’s tagline states, “Creators of Specialty Food” - Dammy’s will not only concentrate on producing chutneys. We plan to expand our portfolio to include at least five different types of products by the end of 2022. We are currently experimenting with a few ideas. Once, I introduce at least four more new products I want to open my own boutique store in Colombo. My goal for 2030 is to export my products to a few international markets. Fingers crossed! 

15.What advice would you give other start ups? Doing a business is a big decision, it needs a lot of planning, but however, too much planning will not get you anywhere. Hence, make plans but don’t spend all your time making plan after plan. Dive in and start the business. You can make fresh plans and navigate as you move on. Eventually, everything falls in to place; have faith in yourself, your ideas and your brand. Nothing is impossible so don’t give in to irrational fears. Just do it!