In 1948, N Ranga Rao founded what would become the world’s largest incense brand from a small home operation in Mysuru, India. Built on in-house fragrance creation and a commitment to ethics, Cycle Pure Agarbathies today reaches more than 75 countries. Eswaran Brothers, the Sri Lankan tea exporting dynasty that traces back to the 1940s, shares that same founding philosophy.
The two families partnered in 2009 to create Suwanda Industries, a social enterprise designed to restore livelihoods to war-affected communities, particularly women-led households in the North and East. That venture is now the country’s only carbon-neutral incense manufacturer, operating under the Cycle Pure Incense brand.
Echelon spoke to Arjun Ranga, Chief Executive and Managing Director at N. Ranga Rao and Sons; Eassuwaren Subramaniam, Vice Chairman at Eswaran Brothers; and Anuradha Ekanayake, Chief Executive at Cycle Pure Incense Sri Lanka to learn why their ethical practices have proven to be their most durable competitive advantage.
Cycle began not as a factory, but as an offering rooted in faith, discipline, and responsibility. As a third-generation leader, which part of that founding belief still feels most personal to you when you make decisions today?
Arjun Ranga: My grandfather went through a great deal before he ever started the business, but what he took from all of it was this: to get ahead, you need to upskill yourself, build a core competence, and do things the right way. My grandmother backed him completely.
He was fiercely ethical. We got an award for being the best taxpayers in 1960, and we found journals where he had recorded the tea he drank in the office as a personal expense. That’s how financially disciplined he was. My father and uncles lived to the same standards and built the foundation on which we could grow.
When I joined in 2000 and technology arrived, scaling was straightforward because our core principles were already intact. The entire organisation was built around employees and ethical business practices from the very beginning. Getting the right people in was all that remained.
Being third-generation as well, what inspired you to partner with N Ranga Rao & Sons back in 2009?
Eassuwaren Subramaniam: As the war was ending, there was a war widow issue emerging across the country, not just in the North, but in the South too. My father wanted to create an industry that war widows could work in, and the obvious answer was incense sticks.
He reached out to Arjun through a friend, and to Arjun’s credit, he immediately saw this needed to be started as a social enterprise. The partnership was formed quickly and we began operations in 2009. Suwanda Industries started from the joining of two like-minded organisations who want to leave the world a better place than they found it.
Today, Cycle is recognised as a global fragrance leader. As you scale, how do you maintain the same leadership and vision that were passed down from your forefathers?
Arjun: When asked what business I’m in, I don’t say incense. We’re in the business of delivering hope. A mother prays in the morning for the wellbeing of her children. Can you put a value to that?
When people ask me how big we are, I don’t talk about numbers. I don’t say we sell 10 billion agarbatti sticks a year, I say we help fulfil 5 billion prayers a year, because one prayer is two incense sticks. And that’s the need we are here to deliver.
That purpose gives me fierce confidence to do the right thing every single time. It’s why we are carbon neutral, why we’ve offset our plastic footprint ahead of schedule, and why we follow global norms in fragrance creation.
How Has This Joint Venture Enabled You To Uphold Sustainability As A Core Value Going Forward?
Subra: It comes down to people first. We don’t think of CSR as a separate department because it is woven into the company’s values, as it is with both Cycle and Eswaran Brothers.
When values are aligned, the work becomes enjoyable. We are here not just to sell products but to help grow the Sri Lankan market, and to up the game in terms of the fragrances being produced. It needs so much care because it is used in all our homes.
How Are You Keeping Up With Evolving Tastes? What Does The Data Tell You?
Arjun: We create trends, we don’t follow them. Younger generations today want to get back to basics, back to their roots. But whatever the trend, our starting point is always the same: the incense stick has to burn completely, and the fragrance should create an ambience ideal for meditation and peace of mind. When you come home after a tough day, the fact that you prayed should still be present in the house.
Beyond fragrance, we’ve realised that the next generation needs to be told what prayer is, what meditation is. It is my generation’s legacy to carry forward this ritual. You start with prayer, it becomes a ritual, then worship, then a way of life.
What Have Eswaran Brothers Learned Or Gained From Their Partnership With N Ranga Rao And Sons?
Subra: The best part has been our focus on positive impact. I still remember one of Cycle’s original ads where a young rocker, decked out with spikes and a bandana, picks up his guitar and then lights two incense sticks and says a prayer.
That’s what this company is about, and that’s what we at Suwanda are trying to bring to the Sri Lankan market: the idea that your prayer matters, that these rituals are important to all of us.
What Led You To Enter Sri Lanka? What Advice Would You Give Someone Looking To Enter Or Find A Partner In The Sri Lankan Market?
Arjun: It’s a lot tougher than I expected. The market is highly fragmented, distribution is a big challenge, and the costs to access the market are very high. I thought having the best brand in India with strong fragrances meant we only had to come to Sri Lanka. It was not that simple.
We launched our top products from India and expected them to pick up, but they didn’t. We had to create local fragrances with international nuances and market them in the right way. One of our leading products here, Parampara, a mixture of aromatic resins and herbs, gave us success after a lot of effort. Getting the right team in place was the key.
You Had A Stated Goal To Help People In The Aftermath Of The War. Did You Have Any Concerns About This Priority Impacting Your Business?
Subra: We’ve switched to automation over hand-rolled since 2009, but the model hasn’t changed. We send goods out to be packed by local women entrepreneurs in the community, and we’re working with local banks to provide production machines to promote women’s entrepreneurship.
There were doubts along the way. Distributing raw materials in the north, trying to create jobs there, it didn’t work out right away. But if you’re trying to do the right thing and you’re sure of yourself, you stay the course.
Arjun: We are both family businesses, and in a family business you’re looking at generations, not three or five years. Our horizon has always been laid between 2009 to 2029. Nothing comes easy, but the belief of both families in the product, the market, and the people has proven over the years that quality ultimately delivers.
How Did You Go About Building A Strong, Disciplined Team, Especially Through Difficult Times, And What Did That Process Teach You About Leadership?
Anuradha Ekanayake: The team wasn’t built overnight, it was built through trust, accountability, and shared belief. During the years of economic instability, you quickly realise that titles don’t hold people together. Purpose does. We created a culture where people felt heard, respected, and trusted to make decisions, but also held accountable for outcomes.
Strength doesn’t come from pretending everything is fine. It comes from being honest about what isn’t working, fixing it together, and growing as a team.
Cycle Sri Lanka has done quite a few things differently. Looking back, what truly set you apart, and in what ways do you feel you’ve helped raise the bar for the industry?
Anuradha: What set us apart was our refusal to chase shortcuts. We didn’t build the business by pushing volume at any cost, we built it by setting standards in how brands should respect culture, how teams should operate with discipline, and how growth should feel responsible. We took risks others hesitated to take, stepping into cultural spaces with respect and prioritising meaning alongside performance.
I believe that helped shift expectations of what good business looks like in Sri Lanka: business that is human, disciplined, and sustainable, not just profitable.
What Does The Journey Ahead Look Like?
Subra: It is about becoming more relevant to Sri Lankan households. Cycle has a huge range beyond incense sticks, like household fragrances, prayer products, and aromatherapy. We’re bringing some of that technology into Sri Lanka to start manufacturing here. We don’t need to be importing everything from China or India. And we will continue to develop our work with women entrepreneurs in communities around our factories, and turn that into a movement.
Arjun: Along with a full range of fragrance and prayer products, we want to grow cautiously, ensuring we take the community with us and that the people in the organisation grow with us. That’s the end goal.
Anuradha: The next chapter is about depth, not just scale. Deepening trust with consumers, strengthening our teams, and continuing to build brands that people genuinely connect with. If the early years were about building belief, and the recent years were about strengthening discipline, the future is about impact and leaving behind a way of working that others can follow.
I hope Cycle Sri Lanka is remembered not just for strong brands, but for showing that meaningful business, done consistently and with heart, truly lasts.