UPSCALING LOCAL MICRO-SCALE VENDORS OF KIRINDA

Thusharini is a local potter in Kirinda, who mastered the art of clay pottery to follow in her parent’s footsteps. Educating herself further through dedicated training programmes, Thusharini improved her finesse and skills to produce novel designs relevant to the times. To support such courageous local entrepreneurs in Yala, Thrive– Jetwing’s flagship project supporting small-scale businesses - launched its latest initiative, ‘Yala Pola’ at Jetwing Yala.

Yala Pola is a market space created for micro-scale suppliers at Jetwing Yala to directly interact with guests, featuring regional delicacies and artisanal products. Every purchase made at this market directly supports these vendors, directing sales towards the local community to improve their income and help them stay in business. The tangible success of the project encourages us to continue this initiative, which will be hosted periodically at Jetwing Yala, in continuous support of these entrepreneurs, while sharing this unique local shopping experience with our guests.

The work taking place behind-the-scenes of this initiative include the upscaling of these vendors through awareness on food hygiene standards, branding, and environment-friendly packaging. Through such capacity-building programmes we engage in upgrading the products and services along the value chain, ensuring that the poorest stakeholders are able to meet regulations, stakeholder expectations, and market requirements to become competitive enterprises.