The primary form of agriculture in Sri Lanka is rice production. Rice is cultivated during Maha and Yala seasons. Tea is cultivated in the central highlands and is a major source of foreign exchange. Vegetables, fruits and oilseed crops are also cultivated in the country. There are two Agriculture Parks abbreviated as A. Parks established by the Department of Agriculture. Out of the total population in Sri Lanka, 27.1% engages in agricultural activities. Agriculture accounted for 7.4% of the GDP in 2020.
Don Harold Stassen Jayawardena, known as Harry Jayawardena, is a Sri Lankan industrialist. He is chairman of Melstacorp PLC and is the Honorary Consul General for Denmark in Sri Lanka. Forbes listed him as one of the richest people in Sri Lanka.
Aitken Spence PLC is a Sri Lankan blue chip conglomerate with operations in South Asia, Middle East, Africa and Pacific. Listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange since 1983, it has major interests in hotels, travel, maritime services and logistics. The group also has a significant presence in printing, plantation, power generation, financial services, IT, Business Process Outsourcing/Knowledge Process Outsourcing sector, elevator agency services, garments, and property development.
Maliban Biscuit Manufactories, is one of the largest manufacturers, distributors and marketers of bakery products in Sri Lanka. Maliban is a privately owned limited liability company.
Alghazaleen Tea is a brand of Ceylon tea, grown and packed in Sri Lanka (Ceylon). It is popular in Jordan, Palestine, UAE, and Afghanistan and is manufactured by Akbar Brothers Ltd. Alghazaleen is imported to Jordan by the Amman-based Palestinian Trading Company. The tea is grown in the mountains of central Ceylon, and the Earl Grey variety is made using oil from the bergamot fruit. Akbar and Alghazaleen brands won the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing's award for the brand of the year in 2003 and in 2005. Sixty million cups of Akbar Brothers tea products are consumed daily.
Hayleys PLC, founded in 1878 by Charles Pickering Hayley, is a multinational and diversified conglomerate company in Sri Lanka, publicly listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange with business spanning over 16 sectors, catering to 80 markets worldwide. Hayleys accounts for approximately 5% of Sri Lanka's export income, and 4.6% of the country's tea and 4.1% of its rubber production. With over 35,000 employees, Hayley was also the first listed entity in the country to surpass annual revenue of US$1 billion in Fiscal Year 2017/18. The company operates over 16 business sectors: eco-solutions, hand protection, purification, agriculture, consumer and retail, leisure, textile manufacturing, construction materials, plantations, industrial solutions, power and energy, transportation and logistics, BPO, tea exports, projects and engineering, and investments and services. Hayleys comprises over 180 business units and subsidiaries, twelve of which are publicly listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. Hayleys PLC is a public listed company with over 15,147 shareholders as of March 31, 2024. In addition to Sri Lanka, Hayleys today has manufacturing facilities in Indonesia,Thailand and India, with marketing operations in Australia, India, Bangladesh, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, UK, USA, France, Poland and Kenya, and its products are sold in 80 countries.
Expolanka Holdings Limited is a diversified conglomerate with interests in logistics, leisure and ventures with a global presence in 20 countries and over 50 cities.
Tata Consumer Products Limited is an Indian fast-moving consumer goods company and a part of the Tata Group. Its registered office is located in Kolkata while its corporate headquarters is in Mumbai. It is the world's second-largest manufacturer and distributor of tea and a major producer of coffee.
George Steuart Group of Companies is Sri Lanka's oldest mercantile establishment, having been established in 1835 during British occupation of Ceylon. It is the oldest surviving mercantile firm in the country, with a recorded history dating back to the early 19th century, and is the first on the register of companies in Sri Lanka
Ceylon Biscuits Limited is a Sri Lankan food manufacturer, the maker of Munchee biscuits and one of the oldest biscuit makers in Sri Lanka. The company owns 60% of the domestic market share in Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh is an important tea-producing country. It is the 12th largest tea producer in the world. Its tea industry dates back to British rule, when the East India Company initiated the tea trade in the hills of the Sylhet region. In addition to that, tea cultivation was introduced to Greater Chittagong in 1840. Today, the country has 166 commercial tea estates, including many of the world's largest working plantations. The industry accounts for 3% of global tea production, and employs more than 4 million people.
Deshamanya Merrill Joseph Fernando was a Sri Lankan businessman who was the founder and chairman of the Ceylon tea company Dilmah. He was known for introducing single-origin tea to an international market, and for conducting his business using the principles of social responsibility.
Brandix Apparel Limited is an apparel manufacturer headquartered in Sri Lanka. It is considered to be the leading apparel manufacturing firm in the country. The company has branches in the United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Mauritius, and the Cayman Islands. Brandix has a crucial role in the Sri Lankan economy by being the main contributor to the Gross Domestic Production. It is the single largest employer in Sri Lanka's export sector and the highest foreign exchange earning company.
C T Holdings PLC, formerly known as Ceylon Theatres Limited, is an investment holding company and one of the largest conglomerates in Sri Lanka. The company was incorporated in 1928 by Chittampalam A. Gardiner and quoted on the Colombo Stock Exchange ever since. In 2019, Brand Finance ranked C T Holdings eighth amongst the most valuable conglomerates in Sri Lanka with a brand value of LKR18,981 million. C T Holdings also ranked eighth in the LMD 100, a list of leading listed companies in Sri Lanka by the business magazine, LMD. The company holds a 71% stake in Sri Lanka's largest food company, Cargills (Ceylon).
Teejay Lanka PLC formerly known as Textured Jersey Lanka is a knitted fabric manufacturer in Sri Lanka and is one of the constituents of the S&P Sri Lanka 20 Index of the Colombo Stock Exchange. The company received the award of the best textile exporter in Sri Lanka at the Presidential Export Awards in 2019 and ranked amongst the 100 most respected companies in the country by the LMD magazine. The company is a supplier to the brands such as Nike, PVH, L Brands, Marks & Spencer, Decathlon, Lidl, and Calzedonia.
Unilever Sri Lanka is a Sri Lankan consumer goods company located in Colombo. It is wholly owned by Unilever, a British multinational consumer goods company. Its products include food, beauty products, personal care, pharmaceuticals, and baby products. Unilever Sri Lanka was established in 1938 as Lever Brother Ceylon Limited. In 1972, it was renamed Unilever Sri Lanka. The company has been ranked as Most Valuable and Strongest Brand and Most Respected Entity. The company has over two dozen brands that are market leaders in Sri Lanka since the 1940s. Unilever operates from a factory complex in an industrial zone of Horana since 2012. About 96% of the company's products are manufactured locally, and more than twenty of its brands are exported outside Sri Lanka.
Island Tea is a Sri Lankan brand of tea, sold internationally. The company was founded in 2017 by Minodh de Silva, it has manages and expands its network through separate companies located in Philippines, Sri Lanka, Qatar, Australia and Singapore, which are privately held.
Sunshine Holdings PLC is a Sri Lankan conglomerate holding company that is engaged in the healthcare, consumer goods and agribusiness sectors. Sunshine Holdings was incorporated on 16 June 1973, and listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in 1983. Sunshine Holdings ranked 45th in LMD 100, a list of quoted companies in Sri Lanka by revenue in the 2020/21 edition.
Swisstek (Ceylon) PLC is a tile grout and tile mortar manufacturing company in Sri Lanka. The company was established in 1967 as Parquet (Ceylon) Ltd to manufacture parquetry. Parquet (Ceylon) signed an agreement with Switzerland-based Bauwerk AG for technology collaboration and started supplying for the domestic and foreign markets under the brand name "Swissparkett". The company was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in 1983. Parquet (Ceylon) switched its core business by switching to manufacturing tile grout and mortar in 2009. In 2011, the company was renamed Swisstek (Ceylon) and in 2013, became a part of the Vallibel One Group. Swisstek is one of the LMD 100 companies in Sri Lanka.
