Idea 294 of 500. Cluster 14: Farm to shelf
Wood-apple, passion fruit, jackfruit and jamun as jellies, jams and fruit leathers in jars, the way Britain sells marmalade
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
Cook a small batch of wood-apple jam and jackfruit leather in a clean kitchen, label the jars with the fruit and the district, and sell them at a weekend market and to one hotel gift shop. Record what sells out, what people say, and what price they accept without haggling. Then send the two best sellers to a Sri Lankan grocery in London with a trade price. A reorder is the proof.
- Who pays first
- A hotel gift shop or a Sri Lankan grocery whose customers want a jar of island fruit to take home or to remember it by.
- What leaves today
- Wood-apple and jamun sell for little in season or go unpicked, while a jar of preserved fruit keeps and travels at a premium.
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 294 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.