Celeste Daily to expand delivery platform
Grocery delivery platform Celeste Daily has also been recognized by the World Bank for its entrepreneurship in times of trial.
A subsidiary of Jaysons Holdings, Celeste Daily is now gearing for 2022, as it looks to expand its delivery network and add a range of new products to its portfolio.
 Janik Jayasuriya |
A small team led by Janik Jayasuriya started off Celeste Daily in the thick of the pandemic when farmers were unable to get their produce to consumers.
Recalling how it all started Jayasuriya said; “When the pandemic struck we had about 30 employees at our Nuwara Eliya Hotels who were out of work. We already had our own farm and vegetable plantation because we source fresh produce for the hotels from our own. We also contacted a few nearby farms and hired a few lorries up to Nuwara Eliya to bring down the produce to those who needed it in Colombo. At the time I thought of it as community service and we provided the fruits and vegetables at cost as a social service.”
An e-commerce platform was next to be set up while the orders came pouring in. Having ventured out in to creating a complete online supermarket with both local and international products, Celeste Daily now boasts of an expanded warehouse and packaging facility in Colombo 5, tie-ups with Uber Eats and PickMe to reach a wider network and customers and an extensive social media presence that has helped the brand grow.
“Today we handle thousands of deliveries a month. One of the highlights for us as a team has been the number of repeat customers who have completely placed their trust in us. Even after things have gone back to the new normal, most of our 25,000+ clients still rely on us for quality products and superior service”, Jayasuriya added.
Celeste Daily has helped many local small and medium businesses by providing them a platform to market and sell their products.
Janik was also responsible for launching a unique campaign of hiring retired senior citizens to Celeste Daily to help in the office and administrative work.