Our History

Wonderboxes was established in November 2019 by Hefraz Hezbullah and his wife Manaal Azeez. An advertising and marketing professional with a decade of corporate experience, Hefraz drew on his background managing FMCG portfolios in Sri Lanka and the Middle East to launch the venture. Manaal, a commerce graduate and former teacher, applied her design and technical skills to develop new wooden products. The company’s first offering was a vintage-style pine crate named “Abby” (followed by “Anu”), reflecting the founders’ creative use of discarded materials. Initially the crates were sold via social media, but as interest grew Wonderboxes opened a retail showroom in Mount Lavinia in June 2021 and launched a full e-commerce website in November 2022.

From that base, Wonderboxes rapidly expanded its catalog. The company now offers “a comprehensive selection of wooden boxes, crates and trays” for gift packaging, hampers, weddings and home storage. The online store and showroom feature decorative trays, specialty and wedding boxes, hamper crates, double-decker and display racks, and other custom designs – over 100 distinct products in total. To meet demand, Wonderboxes has grown its workshop team (now employing about 8–10 skilled carpenters, plus retail staff and a delivery driver). Its wooden crates and trays serve a broad customer base: local home organizers and small entrepreneurs (especially women-led businesses) as well as large corporate clients. Notably, Sri Lankan companies such as The Kingsbury, Lanka Canneries, Wishque, MJF Exports, The Fab and Park Street Gourmet regularly use Wonderboxes products for packaging and displays. These partnerships highlight the firm’s role in serving both boutique and institutional markets.

Our Mission

At Wonderboxes, our day-to-day mission is to deliver high-quality, handcrafted wooden products while minimizing our environmental impact. We source discarded pine shipping pallets from importers and, after dismantling and cleaning the wood, we craft it into new crates, trays, racks, and boxes. This upcycling process is at the heart of our commitment to sustainability. We offer both standard product lines—such as storage crates and serving trays—as well as fully custom designs to meet specific home or business needs. All of our items are made locally here in Sri Lanka, supporting domestic craftsmanship. Today, our workshop employs about ten carpenters alongside our retail team.

In addition to producing eco-friendly goods, we weave social responsibility into everything we do. A portion of our profits goes to charitable causes—for example, we donate 2% to a fund that supports people in need—and we also help local entrepreneurs present their products. Many women-owned small businesses use our crates and trays to package and display their goods, which is something we are especially proud of.

Through these efforts, our mission blends commerce with community support: we create useful, well-crafted wooden packaging and furniture while giving back to both people and the planet.

Our Vision

At Wonderboxes, we envision a world where ordinary pinewood is reimagined into extraordinary adventures of design and utility. By reclaiming waste and transforming it into sustainable, functional, and beautifully crafted products, we aspire to lead the wooden packaging and homeware industry with innovation and integrity. Our commitment is to reduce waste, conserve resources, and inspire conscious living—delighting customers worldwide while pioneering a future of eco-conscious craftsmanship.