Skip to content
Fast island-wide delivery · Pay with PayHere, Koko, Mintpay or Cash on Delivery
Apestore
Apestore

Our story

More than rice. A mission to preserve Sri Lanka's agricultural heritage.

Long before Apestore.lk became a store, our journey began with a simple curiosity: what happened to the traditional rice varieties our ancestors once cultivated?

For generations, Sri Lankan farmers cultivated hundreds of traditional varieties, each adapted to different environments, seasons and soils. Over time, many became difficult to find. We wanted to understand why, and to help preserve what remained.

Shop the harvest Contact us

2009

Where our journey began

In 2009 we began as individuals, not as a business. We studied traditional farming practices, did our own research and started farming, exploring Sri Lanka's indigenous rice varieties.

This was not simply about growing rice. We wanted to learn about the varieties themselves: their names, origins, characteristics, cultivation methods and the knowledge passed from one generation of farmers to another.

For more than a decade we travelled, collected information, worked with farmers and searched for varieties that were becoming increasingly difficult to find. What started as an interest slowly became a mission.

2020

A crisis that gave birth to Apestore

Then the COVID-19 crisis arrived. Food security, farming and local production suddenly became more important than ever for Sri Lanka.

That was the time we started Apestore: to bring traditional, organic food to our fellow Sri Lankans. We realised that preserving traditional rice was not only about protecting the past. It was also about protecting the future.

By then our collection had grown to more than 150 traditional rice varieties, and everything we grow, we cultivate organically, with organic methods and inputs.

From collection to conservation

Keeping these varieties alive.

Some varieties were extremely difficult to source consistently. Others had limited cultivation, or were held only by individual farmers and small farming communities.

So we began preserving traditional rice seeds, supporting cultivation and building relationships with farmers who continue to protect these varieties. We wanted them to remain part of Sri Lanka's living agriculture, not just samples in a collection.

From 150+ varieties to farming again

Bringing them back to your table.

As our knowledge grew we asked: can we bring these traditional varieties back to people's tables? The answer became Apestore.lk, a system around traditional and organic rice, from cultivation and sourcing to processing, packaging and delivery.

Today we are actively producing 15 traditional rice varieties, in red, white and black rice.

Our collection

150+ traditional rice varieties.

Sri Lanka's rice heritage is much larger than the varieties commonly seen in today's markets. Agricultural records list hundreds, and in some sources more than a thousand, traditional rice names and accessions, although different names can sometimes refer to the same or closely related varieties. We see our collection not simply as a business asset, but as a responsibility.

Prominent traditional Sri Lankan rice varieties

Today · 15 varieties in production

Every packet is part of a much larger journey.

  1. Research
  2. Collection
  3. Conservation
  4. Farming
  5. Processing
  6. Packaging
  7. Your home

Beyond rice

Our mission has grown.

Sri Lanka's traditional food culture holds generations of knowledge about farming, food, natural products and sustainable living. We are working to preserve and promote more of these products and practices alongside our rice conservation work, so that traditional foods are once again part of everyday life.

Why we do this

Food carries history.

A rice variety can carry the knowledge of farmers. A seed can carry generations of agricultural experience. A traditional farming method can carry the wisdom of our ancestors. When a traditional variety disappears, we lose more than a crop: we lose a piece of our heritage. That is why we continue.

Our vision

To help preserve Sri Lanka's traditional agricultural heritage for future generations.

Protected. Cultivated. Researched. Produced. Shared. Enjoyed.

From a small beginning in 2009, through the challenges of 2020, to a collection of 150+ varieties and 15 in production, the journey continues.

This is not just our story. This is the story of Sri Lankan rice.

And we are committed to keeping it alive. — Apestore.lk

Shop traditional rice