Evaluating only Vanuatu Harvest’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Market too small as the #1 likely cause. Documented cause: Unit economics.
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FOUNDING
MILESTONE
CRISIS
SHUTDOWN
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Documented cause
Vanuatu Harvest built a crop traceability and export facilitation platform for Vanuatu's kava, cocoa, and vanilla farmers, who sold into premium global markets but lacked supply chain documentation to command fair prices. The technology worked. Pilots with Australian and New Zealand buyers showed 15-20% price premiums for certified-traceable produce. But Cyclone Harold in April 2020 destroyed crops across three islands and disrupted operations for months. Internet connectivity remained so poor in rural growing regions that farmers relied on field agents for data entry, making the economics of each enrollment prohibitively expensive. By 2022, the cost per enrolled farmer was $240 against average annual revenue per farmer of $90.
Lesson
“Verify mobile data penetration in your target growing regions before you model unit economics. If farmers need human intermediaries for data entry, your model is an NGO program.”