Idea 134 of 500. Cluster 6: Food and drink as export, not just hospitality
Hoppers and string-hopper mixes that work in a foreign kitchen
The mechanism, from the book
Dilmah says it earns over 3 times the national average price for tea, because it does its own blending, branding and packing. The proof has been sitting inside the industry all along.
Every idea in cluster 6 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Develop a dry mix for hoppers and one for string hoppers, then post packs with simple English instructions to 10 Sri Lankan friends abroad who have never managed to make them. Ask each to cook them in their own kitchen and send a photo and honest comments. When 7 in 10 succeed, you have a product a grocer can stock.
- Who pays first
- A Sri Lankan family abroad that loves hoppers but cannot make them work with foreign flour and a foreign stove.
- What leaves today
- Rice and coconut leave as raw commodities; a mix that works abroad sells the island's breakfast, not just its ingredients.
The idea and the mechanism are from the book. The first step was written for this site as a suggestion; if you know a better one, say so.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
The only test any idea on this site has to pass. The four rules that go with it are here.
In the book
- Ch. ElevenThe Mechanisms
What a brand and an owned variety are worth, from the kiwifruit growers - Ch. TwoAn Island Nobody Has Counted
The island's spices: pepper, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg
More from cluster 6
Idea 134 of the 500 in the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? Every one can be started by one person, one family or one small firm.