Move over Pumpkin Spice Latte. A New England entrepreneur has figured out a new-fangled way to monetize everyone’s favourite season.
ShipFoilage.com will send a bundle of three perfectly coloured leaves to anywhere in the United States. And how much does it cost to own a tiny of piece of autumn? Apparently, just one easy payment of $19.99.
Created by Kyle Waring, a 27-year-old from the Boston area, the company is meant to satiate those Americans who live in places that lack seasonal diversity, yet have a hankering for some pretty leaves.
While paying 20 bucks for three leaves may seem a steep price to pay, these aren’t your regular, run-of-the-mill leaves. No, these are like the Lambourghinis of leaves.
According to its website, “foliage experts hike all around the Northeast [United States] in search for the perfect leaves. During our collection we sift and filter through our inventory, hand-selecting only ‘Grade A’ foliage.”
Once the experts have selected a trio of flawless foliage, each leaf is then soaked in a mixture of baking glycerin and water, and is then dried for three days. This technique gives them a glossy finish and allows the leaves to keep for several years.
Yet actually buying enough leaves to experience some of autumn’s joys first-hand—the sound of crunching leaves under your feet, jumping in a three-feet pile, seeing a horizon of red and orange trees—well, that will cost you a pretty penny.
In fact, it’d probably be cheaper to just jump on a plane and head to Algonquin or any of Canada’s other parks for peak foliage.
This isn’t Waring’s first seasonal start-up. Last winter, he founded ShipSnowYo, which as you probably guessed, mailed to snow to snow-deprived Americans. The company sent a whopping 700-pounds worth.
So far this season, ShipFoilage.com received 75 orders within the company’s first 24 hours.
