What can be packed into a small snap lock bag, weighs about 30 grams and is worth $2000?
No, it's not suspicious white powder but 2000 mini cucumber seeds.
It sounds like the stuff of fairy tales.
Will these seeds grow into an enormous plant that will lead to a land of giants and a goose that lays golden eggs?
After all, the seeds are almost worth double the price of precious metal. But this is no joke.
The seeds have been designed by Abundant Produce, which will list on the ASX next week.
The company has spent five years developing its technology with the University of Sydney's Plant Breeding Institute.
Chief executive Tony Crimmins said the company was the first of its kind to list on the ASX, specialising purely in agriculture intellectual property, generating revenue mainly from royalties.
"It costs 0.8 of a cent to produce a seed," Mr Crimmins said. "The rest [of a seed's overall value] is distribution and IP.
"And the divide between distribution and IP is the negotiation you have with the companies that you are trying to sell the seeds to."
Typically, royalties range from 5¢ to 11¢ a seed and some of the world's biggest seed companies such as Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont and Limagrain, are taking notice of the Sydney company's technology.
Mr Crimmins said those big four companies controlled about 80 per cent of the market, meaning working with them to secure distribution contracts was a necessity.
"Those big boys don't like each other dramatically," he said. "But we're small and have great ideas and these large houses are the beneficiaries.
"The majors tend to buy innovation rather than breed it."
The company – which has raised $3.5 million from mainly institutional investors and will list with a market capitalisation of $9.3 million at 20 cents a share – is aiming to differentiate itself from other seed designers.
It is focusing on creating varieties that can withstand the harsh climates in emerging markets, such as India and Mexico.
"These areas are developing a proliferation of greenhouses with products being shipped to more developed markets in the northern hemisphere during the winter," said Abundant's research manager, Graham Brown.
"These areas have low cost structures but more extreme heat and more extreme cold. And whether you believe in climate change or not there are more extreme weather events."
The harsh conditions can damage entire crops or leave blemishes on produce, slashing farmers' incomes, but Mr Brown believes Abundant can help mitigate these risks.
For example, it has already developed a heat-tolerant gene which resulted in tomato plants still being able to produce fruit in 50 degree heat in Pakistan.
It's not alone in investing in IP. Australia's biggest horticulture company, Costa Group, has partnered with US giant Driscoll's to develop and market superior varieties of berries.
Meanwhile Greg Hunt, the chief executive of herbicide and pesticide company Nufarm, said his business was not just helping farmers grow bigger crops but ones with added health and consumer benefits.
"The next wave is going to come on output traits and that's where you see canola crops that are rich in omega 3, grain-based products that produce a flower that may have some other benefit such as gluten-free," Mr Hunt told Fairfax Media in January.
Mr Brown has more than 20 years' experience in product development in the wheat and ornamental flower market – but he said high value crops is where future growth is.
Mr Crimmins adds that in developing countries like Vietnam, supermarkets were overtaking traditional markets and this was an opportunity for Abundant.
"I was in Ho Chi Minh City about 20 years ago and it was mainly wet markets back then. But that's changed. It's all supermarkets and sometimes you can't physically touch any produce before you buy it, it's all wrapped up.
"The food market is growing as the world's population grows and people are becoming more affluent. It's rapidly changing."
