Sky For NZ

Pineapples In The Sky For NZ

XTEW ZEALAND is short of pine „ , apples—Prime Minister Keith Holyoake himself says he hasn’t seer them in local shops for a long time— and Fiji has them for export. But it’s not quite as simple as that, as a Fiji pineapple-growing company is finding out.

The company, Fiji Golden Queen Pineapples, which has its headquarters at Nadi, has already sent a shipment of fresh pineapples to Auckland by air, receiving a most satisfactory cash return for its enterprise. At present it has 10 acres under culti vation and expects 80,000 of the fruit to be available for export early in 1965. It has its eyes on the NZ market.

Managed by Mr. E. Ewins and his son Gerald, the company is now endeavouring to obtain a substantial import quota from the NZ Govern ment. Although the balance of trade between the two countries is very much in the Dominion’s favour, the company is a little pessimistic as to the outcome of its application because of licence restrictions.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Mr.

Keith Holyoake, was tackled about the prospects when he put down at Nadi Airport in July, en route to the London Prime Ministers’ conference.

In a diplomatic interview with a Fiji Times representative, Mr.

Holyoake commented that an oc casional small shipment of pine apples came in from Hawaii and also some from the Cook Islands, but there was not much fresh pineapple in New Zealand shops.

He added that he had not seen them in stock for a long time and he often popped into fruiterers on his way to work in the mornings to chat about business.

The Cook Islands, Mr. Holyoake added, were seriously considering the production of them on a large scale but he thought it would be many years before New Zealand could expect any fresh pineapples from that source, as shipping services were so erratic. The industry there would be more likely to tin the fruit.

He was not able to shed any light on the import problems from Fiji.

The Nadi based company mean while is concentrating on air-freight ing supplies to the pineappleless Kiwis, for it is here that it has an advantage over other sources. It is hoping that it will last, but it can’t count on it.