Idea 142 of 500. Cluster 6: Food and drink as export, not just hospitality
Ready meals for Sri Lankans abroad, cooked in Sri Lanka, frozen and shipped in bulk
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
Cook three dishes that Sri Lankan families abroad miss most, freeze them in sealed trays, and have a food lab check how well they hold after a month. Then ask a Sri Lankan caterer or supermarket abroad how many trays they would take each month in a shared frozen container, and at what price per tray. A monthly quantity and a price are enough to plan the first shipment.
- Who pays first
- A Sri Lankan supermarket or caterer abroad that wants authentic home dishes for less than it costs to cook them locally.
- What leaves today
- Money that Sri Lankans abroad spend on Sri Lankan food goes to cooks and kitchens abroad; frozen meals bring the cooking, and the wages, back to the island.
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 142 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.