Idea 150 of 500. Cluster 6: Food and drink as export, not just hospitality
A Sri Lankan food hall in one European city, run as a showcase and a wholesaler at once
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
Rent a stall for one weekend at a food market in a European city where you or a relative live, and sell three dishes plus jars and packs from island producers. Record what sells and ask every buyer who wants the packaged goods for an email address. Then ask two nearby delis whether they would buy those goods wholesale from you. That list is the wholesale half of the food hall.
- Who pays first
- Food lovers in one European city who tasted Sri Lankan food on holiday and want to buy it again at home.
- What leaves today
- Island producers have no showroom abroad, so their products never meet a European buyer and stay raw or local.
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 150 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.