Starter Kit. Idea 140 of 500. Cluster 6
Curry-leaf, pandan and gotukola as frozen and dried herbs for European retail
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.
The first step
Freeze and dry small batches of curry leaf, pandan and gotukola and test which method keeps colour and scent for a month. Then email the buyer for Asian foods at five European importers, with photos, and ask what volume, packaging and certification they would require. Their requirements, and the price they name, are your plan.
- Who pays first
- An Asian food importer in Europe whose customers want these herbs and can rarely find them fresh or frozen.
- What leaves today
- These herbs grow freely here and sell for little at home, while European cooks who want them can rarely buy them at all.
Ask first
- Department of Agriculture. Ask which plant-health checks fresh herbs for export must pass.
- Sri Lanka Customs. Ask what papers fresh or frozen herbs need to leave the country.
Check before you spend
That the herbs pass plant-health checks for the buyer country, that drying or freezing is hygienic, and that pesticide residues are tested.
Find out these three numbers
- What do shops abroad pay per pack of curry leaves?
- How much can growers supply each week?
- What does freezing and shipping cost per kilo?
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.