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Odiris Engineering Company (Pvt) Ltd
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Odiris Engineering Company (Pvt) Ltd
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Delivery Available Islandwide

About

Founder & Past Chairman

N. W. Odiris Perera was born in 1914 in Arawwala. Following the tradition of the era, he joined the Ceylon Government Railway (CGR) as a mechanical apprentice — but his restless engineering mind was always destined for something greater. He left the CGR prematurely, joined a relative's vehicle repair garage to experiment freely, and in 1952 launched a product that would quietly revolutionize Sri Lanka's kitchens. His table-top, hand-cranked coconut grater replaced the age-old low-bench scraper that had forced housewives to work squatting for generations. More than a kitchen gadget, it introduced the table as a working surface to the Sri Lankan home — a small but profound shift in domestic life.
"People buy our products from their hard-earned money. We must justify the money they pay."
N. W. Odiris Perera
Founder & Past Chairman

A life in milestones

1914
Born in Arawwala, Sri Lanka. Joined the Ceylon Government Railway as a mechanical apprentice, working under the celebrated General Manager B. D. Rampala.
 
Early career
Left the CGR to join a relative’s vehicle repair garage — using it as a free workshop to experiment and develop his engineering ideas without constraint.
 
1952
Manufactured his first coconut scraping machines and tested them with string hopper makers who used large quantities of coconut. When early models broke during use, he rebuilt and re-engineered them rather than give up.He then established his own workshop at Dutugemunu Road, Pamankada — the same address the company operates from today.
 
~1959
Devised a now-legendary publicity stunt: fitted a table into his Fiat car during a motor car parade and had two women demonstrate live coconut scraping. The image appeared on the front pages of newspapers the next day, dramatically boosting sales.This led to a direct invitation from the then Minister of Industries to exhibit at Campbell Park, Borella.
 
Late 1950s–1970s
Learnt at the Campbell Park exhibition that a competitor planned to import kerosene cookers — and immediately began manufacturing them himself. He went on to produce pressure lanterns and a gas converter for cars, building all the manufacturing machinery himself at the Pamankada factory.
 
1985
A wrongly prepared Ceylon Electricity Board bill led to the factory’s power being cut. He fought the case in court, won, received compensation, and used it to rebuild the company stronger than before.
 
1987
Converted the sole proprietorship into Odiris Engineering Company (Pvt) Ltd, bringing his three sons — N. W. Wilson Perera, Karunasiri Perera, and Jayasiri Perera — into the directorate as the next generation of engineering leadership.
 
Later years
Continued innovating: introduced safety folding knives, the ‘Manna’ kitchen knife range, an electric coconut scraper, and the self-dousing bottle lamp — a lamp designed to extinguish itself automatically when tilted.Regularly featured in national newspapers and recognised by trade associations and the State for his contributions to Sri Lankan industry.
Around 1959 he owned a small Fiat Car and while participating in a motor car parade, he fitted a table into his car and got two beautiful damsels to demonstrate coconut scraping with his machine — the following day the picture was flashed in all the newspapers on their front pages.

Mr. Odiris Perera built his business with no formal advertising budget — quality and word of mouth were his tools. He was manufacturer, marketer, transporter, and product promoter all at once in those early years, personally delivering machines to hardware stores across Colombo.

When English merchants and imported goods dominated Sri Lankan commerce, he succeeded because nobody could produce a substitute for his invention. His company survived electricity cutoffs, economic upheavals, and the liberalisation of the 1980s — emerging stronger each time.

He was featured across national newspapers as a man of extraordinary talent in the industrial sector, and received recognition from trade associations and the State. His legacy lives in every Sri Lankan kitchen that has used an Odiris coconut scraper — and in a company that, since 1952, has never stopped asking whether its products are truly worth what its customers pay.

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Odiris Engineering Company (Pvt) Ltd

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