Eli’s pine cone business a family affair with roots dating back 200 years
“My name is Eli and I am the boss of my own business.”
Not bad for an 11-year-old.
Eli Jones first thought of selling pine cones “like four years ago”, as a then six-year-old. Last year his plan came to fruition and he launched Mr Eli Pine Cone.
The pine cones are popular as fire starters, and as mulch around trees and plants.
The business plan is relatively simple: pick pine cones at grandma’s place near Millicent on South Australia’s Limestone Coast, bag pine cones, sell pine cones.
“The harder part is that we actually have to bag them after we get them all,” Eli says.
“The easier part is actually picking them up and bringing them to the trailer.
“We try and get the non-broken ones because some of them don’t have the little sticks on them that make them actually flammable.”
Gathering and bagging the pine cones is mainly done in the drier months.(ABC South East SA: Bec Whetham)
‘Marketing, work ethic and all that’
Picking is done…
