Idea 284 of 500. Cluster 14: Farm to shelf
Vegetable box schemes for Colombo households, direct from a named farm
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
Agree a weekly price with one farm for a mixed box of what is in season, then offer it to 20 households in one Colombo neighbourhood through a residents' group or a school parents' chat. Take payment in advance for 4 weeks. The number who pay, and how many renew after the first month, is the proof that a named farm beats the market stall.
- Who pays first
- A Colombo household that wants vegetables they can trust, from a farm they can name, delivered to the door once a week.
- What leaves today
- The farmer sells to a collector at the gate, so the retail price of good vegetables in the city is earned by the chain in between.
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 284 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.