8th January 2024; Sri Lanka’s 2nd largest life insurer, Softlogic Life, unveiled its iconic vegetable Christmas tree for the second consecutive year at the most iconic Galle Face roundabout in the city of Colombo. The Christmas tree was made up of vegetable plants planted and sent to Softlogic Life by people from all four corners of Sri Lanka going down in history as Sri Lanka’s first-ever crowdsourced Christmas tree made of vegetable plants.
In the campaign’s initial phase, Softlogic Life took a proactive approach by distributing seed packs to enthusiastic Sri Lankans across the length and breadth of the country. This thoughtful initiative aimed to engage individuals who expressed a keen interest in nurturing vegetable plants, encouraging them to be a part of this historical moment but most importantly in inspiring fellow Sri Lankans to take up home gardening with the overall perspective of growing at least some part of their food requirement. The response exceeded expectations, with requests pouring in from various regions, reflecting a widespread eagerness to contribute to creating Sri Lanka’s first-ever crowdsourced Christmas tree made of vegetable plants. Based on the requests received, a special fleet of trucks, in partnership with Shree FM, was sent to several cities, including Anuradhapura, Peradeniya, Matara, Galle, Kottawa, Gampaha and Chilaw, to collect these plants. Apart from the public contributions, schools too joined in and handed over plants for this project.
Hoisted from 23rd December to 2nd January at the iconic Galle Face roundabout in Colombo (in front of the Presidential Secretariat), the Christmas tree installation comprised 2000+ vegetable plants of diverse variety and nutritional value. With a base width of 12 feet, and a total height of 30 feet, the tree was made of vegetables such as purple and green cabbage, chinese spinach, brinjal, water spinach, bird and green chillies.
While this unique Christmas tree caught the attention of the public and made headlines in various social media and news platforms, what was even more significant is that this stood tall for over 10 days, resilient against challenges like extreme sunlight, humidity and sea breeze on one of Sri Lanka’s busiest roundabouts. This was intentionally done by Softlogic Life to convey a very important message to Sri Lanka which is, if Softlogic Life can do it here under such environmental conditions, anyone can start their own home garden, even if it’s on a balcony in their home.
“In Sri Lanka, there is a famous saying that: Even if you randomly throw a stick somewhere, irrespective of where it is, it will get planted because Sri Lanka is blessed with an extremely fertile soil no matter where you go. Similarly, this nation is truly blessed in many more ways, but it is our duty to use those blessings as a strength and make choices and efforts to secure the future that we envision. This tree which is Sri Lanka’s first ever crowdsourced vegetable Christmas tree that stands tall in the center of the hustling and bustling Colombo, withstanding numerous challenges like extreme sunlight, humidity and sea breeze is a symbol of that very message.” stated Chamindri Pilimatalauwe, Vice President – Marketing
Sri Lanka, a nation enriched with myriad blessings, stands as a testament to the incredible potential within its borders. Softlogic Life recognizes and celebrates the abundance of opportunities that the country offers while urging people to take action. The iconic Christmas tree, now in its second consecutive year, is not merely a festive spectacle but a symbol of the nation’s resilience and fertility and this campaign serves as an inspiring reminder that, home gardening is achievable anywhere and in any part of Sri Lanka.
Softlogic Life’s Managing Director, Iftikar Ahamed said, “As a responsible corporate citizen, we strive to enhance the quality of lives of all Sri Lankans by inspiring positive change at every level of our society. We are undoubtedly a blessed nation but that also means there’s countless opportunities around us. If we are open, bold and can think differently, there are many things that we can leverage on. One reason why we embarked on a campaign such as this is also because we believe the same at our core. This is why as a life insurer, we have always kept an open mind in consciously looking at opportunities even amidst some of the most challenging times to create the maximum value for all our stakeholders, be it innovations in processes, product, service excellence, financial excellence or communication. This spirit of ours has been instrumental in us steadily moving market places during some of the most turbulent times to become the 2nd largest life insurer in Sri Lanka”.
As the initiative concludes, Softlogic Life’s commitment to improving the lives of all Sri Lankans is vividly portrayed through this innovative campaign. Following the public display of the remarkable vegetable Christmas tree, the next phase of this initiative involves distributing the 2000+ thriving plants to the general public and schools to start their own home gardening journey even in a small way.