Starter Kit. Idea 292 of 500. Cluster 14
Palmyrah products from the north: toddy, jaggery, fibre, fruit, the whole tree the way the coconut is a whole nut
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.
The first step
Buy small amounts of palmyrah jaggery, fruit pulp and fibre from tappers and weavers in one northern village, and note the price of each at the gate. Pack them well and offer them together as a palmyrah gift box to a Sri Lankan grocery and a hotel shop. Record what sells and at what price, and ask each buyer which item they would reorder. The best seller tells you where to start processing.
- Who pays first
- A Sri Lankan family abroad from the north who want the taste of the palmyrah they grew up with, and will pay for it packed properly.
- What leaves today
- The palmyrah is used piece by piece and sold raw, when the whole tree could be processed into products the way the coconut is.
Ask first
- the Divisional Secretariat. Ask which palmyrah producers and societies already work in the area.
- the area Medical Officer of Health. Ask what a unit packing jaggery and fruit pulp needs before selling.
Check before you spend
Whether tapping and toddy sales need a licence, and whether your packing room has food approval before anything is sold.
Find out these three numbers
- What do tappers and weavers get at the gate for each product?
- What does palmyrah jaggery sell for in a Colombo shop?
- Which product sells best when packed well?
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.