ECONOMYNEXT – New Anthoney’s Farms was named among global sustainability leaders for its use of the Sustainable US Soy and Fed with Sustainable US Soy labels, a distinction that placed a Sri Lankan poultry producer alongside some of the world’s most established agribusiness names at Soy Connext 2026 in Chicago this August.
The summit, organised by the US Soybean Export Council (USSEC), drew a record turnout of more than 800 delegates to the Hyatt Regency Chicago.
In 2023, New Anthoney’s Farms became the first company in South Asia to secure the Sustainable US Soy licence, verified under the US Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol.
That early adoption has since made the company a reference point for USSEC when discussing what responsible sourcing looks like in practice, and it sits at the foundation of Anthoney’s Feeds, the group’s feed milling operation, which supplies the protein rich, traceable feed behind the company’s antibiotic free standard.
Sri Lanka was 2025’s largest market in the world for containerised US soybean meal, importing roughly 255,000 tonnes last year to feed a domestic animal feed industry producing close to 1.3 million metric tons annually, with poultry as its biggest customer, the company said.
16 Sri Lankan poultry producers and feed millers currently hold the Sustainable US Soy licence.
Over four decades, New Anthoney’s Farms built its identity around a single, then unusual, commitment: raising poultry without antibiotics at any stage of production.
Today, the company describes itself as Sri Lanka’s only fully antibiotic free poultry producer, a claim that has become central to both its consumer proposition and its investment case.
In June, the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, announced it would invest up to USD 10 million in New Anthoney’s Farms Group.
The investment is designed to expand production capacity, strengthen supply chain efficiency and widen access to safe, affordable poultry across the domestic market.
The company expects to export 1,936 metric tons of poultry annually, roughly 10 percent of total output and a 29 percent increase on 2024 levels, generating an estimated USD 4.95 million in additional foreign exchange earnings by 2032.
The IFC investment carries a social dimension that extends beyond the company’s own balance sheet.
Smallholder farmers currently contribute around 40 percent of New Anthoney’s production, and the expansion is expected to create more than 900 new jobs while benefiting at least 200 smallholder farmers through contract farming and outgrower schemes, with roughly 22 percent of participants expected to be women and 80 percent from low income households.
Sri Lanka’s poultry sector remains a critical source of affordable protein and food security, yet smallholder farms, which make up 85 percent of the sector, supply less than 30 percent of total output, often held back by constraints in productivity and market access.
Strengthening that value chain, rather than simply scaling one company’s output, is central to how the investment has been framed.
“Founded in 1986 as a smallholder enterprise, New Anthoney’s Farms Group is proud to enter its next phase of growth through this partnership,” said Neil Suraweera, CEO of New Anthoney’s Farms Group, of the IFC deal.
“This collaboration represents a paradigm shift for us, reinforcing our commitment to world class governance, transparency and operational excellence, while upholding the highest standards of social and environmental sustainability.” (Colombo/Aug26/2026)
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