Business Opportunities Weblog

November 27, 2006 by Rich Whittle | 2 Comments

GlobeandMail.com:

When an Irish businessman named Alan Jenkins visited the Irish Cultural Center in Queens last year exploring the possibility of shipping Irish earth to nostalgic expatriates in the United States, Father Colm Campbell gave Mr. Jenkins his hearty endorsement.

“It’s an Irish tradition to sprinkle a little of the auld sod on the casket,” Father Campbell said.

One year later, Father Campbell and a few thousand other Irish-Americans have received their hallowed Isle earth, and 65-year-old Mr. Jenkins has hit pay dirt.

As of this week, Mr. Jenkins’ Auld Sod Export Company will have shipped about 160,000 12-ounce bags of Irish soil — each retailing for $15 (U.S.) — to a warehouse on Long Island where they are prepared for shipment to homesick Irish across the country.

Mr. Jenkins came up with the idea of selling dirt while he was vacationing in Florida a decade ago. One day, a Floridian friend ushered him out of the sun and into a club frequented by expats eager for stories from the Emerald Isle.

“After a while, all these guys confessed to me they would give anything to have a drop of the auld sod on hand to drop on top of their caskets,” Mr. Jenkins said.

Mr. Jenkins returned to Ireland certain he’d soon be converting Irish soil into greenbacks. But there was one problem: U.S. trade rules ban soil imports, a measure aimed at preventing foreign pests from invading the country’s crops.

Last February, while lunching out, Mr. Jenkins overheard a young man at the next table say he was an agricultural scientist. Within minutes, the two had solved the embargo problem and began hatching a business plan.

With roughly 34 million Americans claiming some measure of Irish ancestry, “the growth potential is unlimited,” Mr. Jenkins said.

Photo by Auld Sod Export Company.

In Ecommerce, Ideas, Niche, Startup | 2 Comments