Sri Lanka’s ANKH launches to connect global brands with South Asian markets

• Luxury experiential brands eye a $ 15.8 b market
• $ 142.5 b opportunity in conscious luxury
• Early learning market expected to grow to $ 11 b by 2030

ANKH Trading Ltd., has launched in Sri Lanka with a mandate to curate premium global brands and pioneer new commercial channels across South Asia, aiming to bridge international creators with emerging consumer markets in the region.

The privately held company has identified three primary areas of focus, Luxury Experiential, Sustainable Luxury, and Specialised Experiential. Its portfolio spans jewellery, gemstones, personal wellness, haute perfumery, and early childhood development products.

In its luxury division, ANKH plans to introduce refined global brands to what it describes as an increasingly premium-conscious consumer base in South Asia. The company is positioning its jewellery and gemstone lines around traceability and ethical sourcing, with commitments to conflict-free and fair-trade supply chains. Lab-grown stones, recycled metals, and artisanal craftsmanship are expected to feature prominently in this segment.

Sustainable luxury forms a second stream of the company’s operations. This includes ethically sourced products and eco-conscious packaging, with a stated emphasis on aligning commerce with environmental responsibility. Personal wellness is also part of this portfolio, ranging from curated self-care products to niche fragrances created by master perfumers in Europe and the Middle East.

The third pillar, Specialised Experiential, targets early childhood development. ANKH says it is curating educational, recreational, and sensory development products tailored for toddlers. These include hands-on learning tools, role-play kits, and sensory exploration materials designed to nurture creativity, language, and motor skills.

“ANKH Trading is structured around a philosophy of commerce with purpose,” said  ANKH Trading Head of Operations Terin Schubert. “Across South Asia, discretionary consumer demand is growing rapidly, FMCG alone saw an 8.3% year-on-year increase in Q2 2025 in South and West Asia. At the same time, Southeast Asia’s luxury goods market is already worth over $ 10.7 billion and projected to rise to nearly $ 15.8 billion by 2033.  Meanwhile, the health and wellness sector in the region has surged to $ 142.5 billion in 2024, and consumers are increasingly aware about sustainably produced goods. Our goal is to build meaningful pathways for global brands to engage with these evolving markets in a way that is transparent, ethical, and forward-looking, ensuring value not just for creators and consumers, but for communities and the environment too.”

She added, “The company’s Specialised Experiential division taps into a fast-growing segment in South Asia’s early childhood growth markets. The region’s kids’ toys industry, valued at $ 6.66 billion in 2020, is projected to reach $ 11 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 5.4%, while Sri Lanka’s own toys market is forecast to expand at an impressive 19.5% annually through 2034. Within this landscape, sensory and developmental toys are gaining strong traction globally, with the sensory products segment expected to rise from $ 2 billion in 2024 to $ 5 billion by 2033. ANKH’s curated range focuses on this intersection of learning and play, introducing tactile, role-play, and sensory exploration tools that nurture creativity, communication, and motor skills in toddlers, designed in alignment with international early learning standards.

The company, headquartered in Colombo, is entering the market at a time when South Asia’s consumer segments are showing signs of shifting toward premium and wellness-driven products. ANKH Trading said it intends to expand its regional partnerships in the coming phases, with a focus on building sustainable trade frameworks alongside brand curation.