Idea 278 of 500. Cluster 14: Farm to shelf
Cut flowers and foliage for the Gulf and Europe, from the cool hills, the way Kenya does it
The mechanism, from the book
The smallholder sells raw to a collector at the gate and the collector sells to a packer who puts his own name on it. Denmark's farmers got rich the day they owned the creamery.
Every idea in cluster 14 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Cut a box of foliage and a few stems from a hill-country grower, pack them as an exporter would, and keep them in a cool room for a week to see how they last. Then send photographs, the vase-life result and a price per stem to three flower wholesalers in the Gulf. A request for a trial shipment is the proof, and their questions tell you what the cold chain must deliver.
- Who pays first
- A flower wholesaler in the Gulf who needs a steady supply of foliage and stems from a source a short flight away.
- What leaves today
- The cool hills grow flowers for the local market, and the export trade that Kenya built goes to other growers.
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
Denmark's co-operative dairies and the binding contract that held them
More from cluster 14
- 271A farmers' co-operative dairy in the hill country selling cheese and yoghurt under its own brand
- 272Buffalo-milk mozzarella and ghee for the hotels and for export
- 273Fruit and vegetable drying: mango, pineapple, papaya, jackfruit and okra as premium snacks and soup mixes for Europe and the Gulf
- 274Frozen tropical fruit pulp for the smoothie chains of the world
- 275Heritage rice varieties grown under contract and sold at ten times the commodity price
- 276Organic certification services for smallholder groups, shared so the cost is bearable
Idea 278 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.