Idea 493 of 500. Cluster 27: The north and the east
Rice, chilli and onion from the Vanni as branded produce, since the quality is known
The mechanism, from the book
The land, the lagoons and the savings of families abroad are waiting. What comes first is the small business.
Every idea in cluster 27 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Buy one bag each of Vanni rice, chilli and onion from a farmer, and repack small quantities with the district's name, the harvest date and the farmer's village. Sell them at one Colombo weekend market and ask every buyer what they would pay next time and whether they would order monthly. A list of buyers asking to reorder shows the name already carries value.
- Who pays first
- A Colombo household cook who knows the Vanni's produce by reputation and will pay more for a pack that guarantees where it came from.
- What leaves today
- The Vanni's produce is known for its quality yet sold unbranded, so the premium its reputation could earn never reaches the 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. ThreeWhat We Have Already Built
Jaffna in what we have already built - Ch. SixteenThe Bridge
A nurse who comes home with a credential and not only savings
More from cluster 27
- 486Palmyrah co-operatives owning the processing, the way the coconut list works for the south
- 487Jaffna heritage stays in the old Dutch and Jaffna houses, restored by the families abroad
- 488Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu farm co-operatives with a cold chain to Colombo
- 489Batticaloa lagoon tourism: the singing fish, the kayaks, the prawns, sold as a week
- 490Technical colleges in Jaffna and Batticaloa funded by families abroad, with the employers at the table
- 491Trincomalee's Dutch fort and Koneswaram as one managed site, with a shop and a guide service
Idea 493 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.