Idea 215 of 500. Cluster 10: Tea, beyond the auction
Tea-estate trail running and cycling events, with the estates as the course
The mechanism, from the book
The Colombo auction sells tea by the lot to a buyer who blends it under his own name. Every step after the auction is where the money is, and every step can be done here by somebody who is not a plantation company.
Every idea in cluster 10 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Map a 10-kilometre route through one estate on its own roads, with the manager's written permission, and run it yourself with a few friends on a Sunday. Then post a paid event on running and cycling club pages in Colombo and abroad, with a date 2 months out and a cap on places. The proof is places sold and the estate's agreement to host.
- Who pays first
- A runner or cyclist in Colombo or abroad who pays entry fees for scenic races and has never been offered a course through a tea estate.
- What leaves today
- The estates are among the most beautiful landscapes on earth and earn nothing from the visitors who would pay to move through them.
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
The auction and every step after it - Ch. TwoAn Island Nobody Has Counted
Tea whose name the world has known for 200 years
More from cluster 10
- 201Single-estate teas sold direct to consumers abroad by subscription, with the estate's story
- 202A tea sommelier course in Nuwara Eliya, certified, for the hotel trade of the world
- 203Tea tasting rooms in Kandy, Ella and Colombo run like wine bars
- 204Cold-brew and sparkling Ceylon tea in cans for the Gulf and Asia
- 205Matcha-style ground green tea from the upcountry, for cafés
- 206Tea cosmetics: creams and serums with a named estate's extract
Idea 215 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.