Starter Kit. Idea 486 of 500. Cluster 27
The Karuthakolomban mango, the finest the island grows, graded, packed and sold under its own name, from Jaffna and every district that grows it, to Colombo and the world
The mechanism, from the book
Fruit the world wants, sold in a heap by the road. Grading, a name and a cold box make the heap an export and the season a reason to visit.
The first step
Buy a few boxes of Karuthakolomban mangoes from growers in Jaffna in the season, grade them by size and ripeness, and pack them in boxes with the variety's name on the lid. Sell the graded boxes to two shops and a hotel in Colombo at a price above the heap by the road. Ask what a shipment abroad would need. The proof is a repeat order at the higher price.
- Who pays first
- A Colombo shop or hotel, or a Sri Lankan family abroad, that will pay more for the named mango, graded and boxed.
- What leaves today
- The island's finest mango is sold in a heap by the road at the heap's price; grading and a name keep the difference here.
Ask first
- Department of Agriculture. Ask what a plant health certificate for fresh mangoes sent abroad requires.
- Sri Lanka Export Development Board. Ask which buyers abroad look for named, graded mangoes.
Check before you spend
Confirm the plant health papers for any shipment abroad, the grading the buyer expects, a cool chain from farm to buyer, and written terms with growers.
Find out these three numbers
- What does a Colombo shop pay for a graded box of mangoes?
- How many days does a ripe mango keep in a cool box?
- How many growers can supply the named variety?
A comparison from the book
Ethiopia. Chapter Four
"Owning a famous name, it turns out, is not enough"
A name sells only with grading and proof behind it, box by box.
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.