Good Market

Good Market began in Colombo in 2012, founded by Achala Samaradiwakara together with Dr. Amanda Kiessel as a founding member, deliberately built without grant funding or outside working capital. What started as a single weekly gathering has grown into a nationwide network connecting more than 2,000 vetted small businesses and producers committed to local sourcing, organic and fair-trade practices, and social or environmental responsibility. Its flagship event remains the Saturday market at the Colombo Racecourse, held in the Nuga Tree Car Park, where roughly 70 to 80 approved vendors sell organic produce, natural foods, ethical fashion, handmade housewares and non-toxic body and home products alongside live music and children's programming. In 2013 the organization launched its own Organic Participatory Guarantee System, a peer-verification model -- run jointly by producers and consumers rather than a third-party certifier -- designed to make organic certification more accessible and affordable for small Sri Lankan farmers who cannot absorb the cost of formal certification schemes. Beyond the weekly market, Good Market vets and lists its member businesses through an online directory and a small number of standing retail outlets, functioning as much as an incubator for socially minded start-ups as a conventional marketplace.