Arts
Stepping out of the box with Boxes of Ethnicity
An idea that stemmed from the thought of helping others with their innovations and recognising local products has taken Dinushka Fernando on an interesting journey through the past 18 months. A mother of two young boys, Dinushka launched her very own- “Boxes by Ethnicity” in July 2018.
A box of goodies
Boxes by Ethnicity is a subscription and gift box service that uses only locally sourced products.
Dinushka through her start-up provides a platform to local businesses to introduce their brands to a wider range of customers.
Her December 2019 seasonal box consisted of a variety of Christmas goodies – creative Christmas cards and gift tags, an interesting pouch that could be unfolded into a bag, Christmas cake flavoured tea, sustainable Christmas decor, ‘yummy’ Mango Chutney, scrumptious Christmas cake and Christmas Tree shaped soap that gives you the fragrance of Christmas. All these packed beautifully amount to Rs.3000.
It is a ready-made gift that would bring a smile to the special person it is gifted to.
“Growing up, my parents would constantly tell me that we are blessed to have so much and should help others as much we can. One of the ways in which we can help is by patronizing their businesses and also promoting them to others.The boxes were a way of continuously giving them business.
In the first 12 months of doing this business, I never once repeated a brand in any of the subscription boxes – this shows how much we have here,” says Dinushka.
Dinushka Fernando
Boxes by Ethnicity produces customized gift boxes throughout the year. There’s a beauty subscription box, also themed boxes like the Tea Lover’s Box (contains tea, bees honey, coasters, a mug and cookies/date cake/love cake), Coffee Box (coffee mug, coasters and sweets), Aunty Box (date and tamarind chutney/ stuffed olives/ kochchi jam/cookies), Batta Box (book/cookies/dreamcatchers/hair slides/bookmarks), Men’s Box (socks/soap/arrack cookies/mixed nuts), #Girlboss Box (soap/scrub/foot soak/scented candle/cookies/earrings/mini flavoured tea), Potter Box (Harry Potter themed tote bag, bookmark, jewellery, notebook, cookie) and Save Mother Earth Box (sustainable items like stainless steel straws, bamboo cutlery, reusable bags, soap, shampoo bars, natural body scrub, body butter) and a lot more.
Boxes by Ethnicity are available at The Sugar Shack (Colombo 5), Tropic of Linen (Wijerama Mawatha), Salon 7th Avenue (Colombo 5) and Ripe (Flower Road). Online delivery is available too.
For further information contact Tel:+94724573563 and follow: Boxes by Ethnicity on Instagram and Facebook.