Cinnamon Industry Analysis: Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Sri Lanka

This report provides an executive summary and in-depth analysis of the cinnamon industry in Sri Lanka, highlighting its entrepreneurial opportunities and potential for innovation. The industry experiences rapid growth in exports, with a focus on international market needs and market diversification strategies to ensure long-term growth. The report explores the industry's unique position with less competition due to its market monopoly. It covers entrepreneurial prospects, job creation, and targets both local and export markets. The report also covers the industry's structure, quality standards, employment impact, and global market position. It discusses challenges like competition, supply issues, and workforce skills, and suggests strategies for promotion, skilled workforce development, and marketing. The report highlights opportunities in brand promotion, skilled labor, and infrastructure development, and the importance of packaging and labeling. It also addresses industry weaknesses like high coumarin levels, and the need to attract younger generations. The report also emphasizes the need for financial support, technological innovation, and quality assurance. The report concludes by highlighting opportunities in online business, logistics, women entrepreneurship, and the importance of training and financial support. The report emphasizes the importance of addressing information gaps, providing training, and leveraging digital platforms to enhance productivity and efficiency.

Entrepreneurship and
Innovation

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Cinnamon industry in Sri Lanka provide a fast growth in various terms of export in
several region of the country and identify the needs of international market and provide the basis
of market diversification. This provide the long-term growth and there is less competition in this
field because it maintains the monopoly within the market. This report provides entrepreneurial
opportunities and create jobs by especially targeting to local and export market.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Main body........................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6
1

INTRODUCTION
Entrepreneur is regarded as a person who transform various changes Entrepreneurship
and innovation play a necessary role in all areas of a business by identifying the opportunities
and allocating resources in such a way that help to gain competitive position across the globe
(Feki, and Mnif, 2016). These two terms are regarded as essential ingredients that provide
introduction of new products through an innovative idea and also provide growth opportunities
within the market. An entrepreneur is innovative by nature and is risky and also encourage
change in an organisation through introduction of new technology and to develop an appropriate
planning strategy. Cinnamon is renowned industry in Sri Lanka that is responsible for
manufacturing, processing and engaging in exports of production of spices and various
agricultural products and so on. The aim is to provide good quality of products and also focuses
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on continuous improvement of products by gaining large access of customers from different
parts of the country. This report is based on the various entrepreneur opportunities that are
provided so as to meet the requirements of different parts of the society as it provide employment
opportunities, ensure quality specifications and so on to gain a significant position across the
globe. This report also cover the overview of Cinnamon industry and various opportunities that
are provided such as excellent infrastructure facilities, availability of finance so as to provide
expand its operations in different parts of the country and therefore provides growth prospects.
Main body
Cinnamon is one of the leading industry in Sri Lanka that mainly emphasises on the
support of the livelihood and also engage in providing employment opportunities to around
3,50,000 people across the world (Hall and Williams, 2019). The concerned firm emphasises on
providing quality standards and also it is regarded as the most important and valuable spices
and also achieve maximum customer satisfaction. The use of cinnamon is used for various
purposes such as bakery products, by adding aroma flavour, and also help in maintaining
preservation of foods and many more. The export of cinnamon in Sri Lanka is mainly in various
countries such as Mexico, USA and Peru so as to gain positive reputation in different parts of the
country. Maintaining quality standards is the top most priority in order to survive in the
international market and thus help in gaining maximum profits and sales within the confine
sector of cinnamon industry. The total export of cinnamon in Sri Lanka is around 41.13% of the
total world's export and also ranking as the top position in terms of export (Yan and Yan, 2016).
Cinnamon is regarded as a unique plant that can be added to any kind of food items such as
soups, beverages, sauces, salads and so on to add a great taste to a product. Also, the main use of
cinnamon is use for medical purposes that help in curing various diseases such as reducing blood
clotting, and also aids to increase memory power and also help in curing various types of
digestive problems. The cinnamon industry is facing several issues that is large number of
competitors, inadequate supply, lack of skilled workforce, several inadequate problems that
results in declining the overall productivity and efficiency of an organisation. In order to ensure
standard products, it is important to focus more on promotional programmes to cater the demand
of various products so as to gain large access of customers at a global level (Karagianni, and et.
al., 2017). Also, this industry could emphasise on maintaining skilled workforce so as to run
smooth operation of a business and thus help in achieving competitive position across the globe.
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Cinnamon industry could focus on promoting its products through electronic and print media
such as newspaper, magazines, and also conduct market research so as to identify the new
market and also focus on expanding well established market so as to obtain new customers and
also emphasises on providing various schemes to stakeholders to achieve quality specifications
(Guerrero and Urbano, 2019). The respective industry focuses on various brand promotion
programmes in order to create an awareness among the group of customers.
The concerned industry could majorly focus on hiring skilled labour so that it could
provide various benefits such as increase in performance, providing effective results so as to
increase the output of an economy. The employees should be provided efficient training so as to
inculcate confidence and self-determination in them as it helps in improving the overall
productivity and thus increase the efficiency. The manager emphasises on dividing the work
among the subordinates in according to their roles and responsibilities so as to bring proper
coordination and thus improve the overall efficiency (Kuratko, 2016). The Cinnamon industry
emphasises on maintaining enough stock of raw materials in accordance to the market demand
and fulfilling the requirements of customers across the globe. The main focus of this industry in
Sri Lanka is that it maintains proper cleanliness and it should be free from micro bacteria and
finest quality is the major criteria for Cinnamon industry. An awareness should be towards
construction of warehouses and excellent transportation facilities and introduction of new
technology to conduct fast operation of a business. It is necessary to provide standard certificates
and provide protection from rain and excessive heat so as to gain competitive advantage and thus
achieve a significant position across the globe. The marketing process of Cinnamon in Sri Lanka
is featured by various activities such as decentralized purchasing, high labour cost, low quality
products, unhygienic practices, high level of competition and so on so as to gain a significant
position in different part of the country (Letaifa and Goglio-Primard, 2016). The respective
industry uses both organic and chemical fertilizers in order to accelerate the level of productivity
at a different level so as to achieve maximum customer satisfaction. One of the major
opportunities that could be grab by the Cinnamon industry is that Sri Lanka has a major
monopoly approximately 90% of total market share in the world. The major use of Cinnamon is
that it could be used for multi purposes and could be grown at all type of soil and also it provide
employment opportunities to large number of villagers in different parts of the country especially
to women and also it get support from various institutions such as government and private
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institutions to maintain high level of productivity to ensure sustainable development in an
economy(Van der Have, and Rubalcaba, 2016). Various programmes like free plantation by
DEA and also provide the facility of 50% subsidy to facilitate smooth operations within the
cinnamon industry in Sri Lanka as it provides various concessions and incentives to provide
greatest benefit to their clients across the globe.
High price of planting materials and lack of infrastructure facilities is the serious concern
and also the main buyers for Sri Lankan cinnamon is Mexico and several other South American
countries who are engaged in purchasing raw cinnamon in large quantities and sold it with
maximum profit margin so as to gain large access of customers across the globe. It also provide
the means of product development and also offer growth opportunities by expanding the supply
in various regions of the country. In order to gain maximum profit at large operations, it is
essential for to incorporate new and advanced technology with proper management structure as it
perform various functions such as planning, organising, directing, monitoring and controlling the
activities by scrutinizing the work of subordinates by increasing the output and therefore,
maximise the profit of industry. One of the most necessary aspect is that packaging and labelling
help in gaining attention of large group of individuals especially in target market so as to
increase the market share in different parts of the country (Sharpe and Schroeder, 2016). Also,
high level of quantity of coumarin is regarded as toxic and also harmful to human liver which is
one of the main weakness of cinnamon industry. The cinnamon industry is facing various issues
such as youngsters are not interested in making their career in this field so the manager
emphasises on providing complete training to their workers at it has become an important centre
for plantation companies. This provide greatest advantage to the industrialists by charging high
labour cost and low level of productivity (Mitra, 2019). There is giant demand of cinnamon of
Sri Lanka at a global level in order to gain international recognition. Also, the stakeholders of
this industry could be provided with innovative technology, availability of funds and to make
ensure about the quality of food for both local and at international level and it can also at niche
markets. There are various quality issues that are faced by the industry that produces 23,000
metric tonnes per annum and their more emphasises is to provide quality and standardised
products so as to achieve large access of customers.
Today, people are more diet conscious towards the health and also there is an increase in
demand in the food and beverage industry so as to increase the sale of products within the
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market. Cinnamon is rich in vitamins and anti-inflammatory properties and it also provides
benefits such as anti-fungal properties and so on and it is also helpful in avoiding infections and
reduce the level of blood pressure that aims to provide multi benefits (Ratten, 2017). The global
cinnamon market is considered as to increase the market segment so as to increase the revenue
and also increase the demand of cinnamon in providing large variety of flavours in according to
market size and growth. The introduction of business through online facilities also provide a big
opportunity and its distribution strategy at a respective place, packaging and labelling provide
vast opportunities as it aids in providing employment opportunities to a large number of people
across the globe (Mrożewski and Kratzer, 2017). Transportation and logistics play an important
role as it provide great opportunities to a large number of individuals in different parts of the
country. The growth of digital platform helps in boosting the sector of an economy as it saves
time and money. This increase the overall performance and thus improve the overall efficiency
and productivity within the confines of Cinnamon industry.
It is necessary for the firm to provide women entrepreneurs as an opportunity to get
themselves engage in trade exhibitions and seminars to add value by using new technologies.
Various institutions such as spice council, CCC and so on provide assistance in terms of
incentives so as to provide the advantage of marketing and promotional activities by creating
high level of visibility (Wagner, 2017). One of the major steps that could be taken is to avoid
information gap by providing complete information through television, radio and so on.
Cinnamon industry could emphasise on providing training and development programmes so as to
increase the skills and knowledge base of employees specially women to gain high level of
productivity within the industry. In peak season during harvesting, mobile banking could be used
for various purposes like repayment of loans and so on(Potts, 2016). The financial institutions
are putting so much emphasise to reduce the risk and assess the success of special programmes
by targetting small and micro enterprises. The human resource manager could hire right
employees so that it lead to increase in productivity and efficiency within the Cinnamon industry
and also it provide the facility tax free import of substitutes so as to gain a competitive position
at a different parts of the country. This is crucial because it provides assistance in encouraging
investments and generate sales and profit and also it raises the level of productivity.
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CONCLUSION
From the above furnished information, it can be summarised that entrepreneur play a
crucial role in providing various opportunities and bringing transformation in an organisation.
Through an innovative ideas and skills, it helps in promoting change and provide vast growth
opportunities to them and it also help in creating the wealth and thus also improve the standard
of living by driving to an innovation sector. It has been analysed that it adds value to the national
income and thus provide greater economic freedom. It promotes capital investment in external
projects and provide financial assistance to charities and so on.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Feki, C. and Mnif, S., 2016. Entrepreneurship, technological innovation, and economic growth:
empirical analysis of panel data. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 7(4), pp.984-999.
Hall, C.M. and Williams, A.M. Eds., 2019. Tourism and innovation. Routledge.
Karagianni, and et. al., 2017. Entrepreneurship and innovation: Current aspects. In Tourism,
Culture and Heritage in a Smart Economy (pp. 239-250). Springer, Cham.
Kuratko, D.F., 2016. Entrepreneurship: Theory, process, and practice. Cengage Learning.
Letaifa, S.B. and Goglio-Primard, K., 2016. How does institutional context shape
entrepreneurship conceptualizations?. Journal of Business Research. 69(11). pp.5128-
5134.
Mitra, J., 2019. Entrepreneurship, innovation and regional development: an introduction.
Routledge.
Mrożewski, M. and Kratzer, J., 2017. Entrepreneurship and country-level innovation:
Investigating the role of entrepreneurial opportunities. The Journal of Technology
Transfer. 42(5). pp.1125-1142.
Potts, J., 2016. Innovation policy in a global economy. Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public
Policy.
Sharpe, N.R. and Schroeder, C.M., 2016. Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Middle East:
Current challenges and recommended policies. In Innovation in Emerging Markets (pp.
87-101). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Van der Have, R.P. and Rubalcaba, L., 2016. Social innovation research: An emerging area of
innovation studies?. Research Policy.45(9).pp.1923-1935.
Yan, J. and Yan, L., 2016. Individual entrepreneurship, collective entrepreneurship and
innovation in small business: an empirical study. International Entrepreneurship and
Management Journal. 12(4). pp.1053-1077.
Wagner, M. ed., 2017. Entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability. Routledge.
Ratten, V., 2017. Entrepreneurship, innovation and smart cities (Vol. 11). Taylor & Francis.
Guerrero, M. and Urbano, D., 2019. A research agenda for entrepreneurship and innovation: the
role of entrepreneurial universities. In A Research Agenda for Entrepreneurship and
Innovation. Edward Elgar Publishing.
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