Dilemma of

Fiji passionfruit industry

By a staff writer

Fiji, which can well use every export penny it can get, received an economic setback in April i f-y /T 7 - \ r 4. j when Cottees (Fiji) Ltd. an nounced the closure of its

passionfruit processing factory,

because, as directors of the com ’ . .. „ , . pany put it, overseas markets had not developed to the extent

originally envisaged”. But there

is hope that something may be J rescued.

T , „ , , HE Cottees factory has been pro cessing passionfruit from the Sigatoka Valley for the past two seasons.

Altogether 130 farmers have been affected by the close down 110 Fijians and 20 Indians, who have planted large areas.

There is another factory owned by South Pacific Foods Pty. Ltd., at Nadroga, which will continue to operate. The farmers supplying the Cottee’s factory will be compensated by Cottees, and are expected to receive about £F 15,000.

The sudden announcement of the closing down of Cottees in Fiji came as a shock to the Fiji Government, The decision comes on the heels of the sale last October of Cottees to

corporated.

Apparently, poor lines of com munication, or poor planning, re suited in the over-supply with no one to tbe P as sionfruit to. Who’s to blame for expecting too much? The Fiji Government or Cottees? In the end result it is the Fiji farmer who stands to lose, Mr - Harold Cottee, chairman of ?°5 tees < Australia ) Lt d-> fr ° m Sydney to Suva on April 29 for talks with the Fiji Government about the passionfruit situation, He told PIM before he left Sydney Jj® say 1 j n u ch about the talks because it would be premature, “I intend to use my best endeavours to keep our passionfruit interests going in Fiji. This job is in my hands for moulding,” he said.

Only persistence, hard work and pioneering is going to find us new markets for passionfruit. Taiwan, the West Indies, South Africa and particularly Hawaii are all producing passionfruit for a limited world market—competition is tough and the markets small, “We feel it is in the interests of the people of Fiji to keep the passion fruit processing going and we would like to find a solution to the problem.

“We are doing all we can.”

Mr. Cottee said he could not comment on reports received by PIM that he would make a personal invest ment in the Fiji passionfruit industry, He said he was acting only as a representative of Cottees.

Total exports of passionfruit pulp and juice from Fiji last year amount ed to 35,505 gallons, which earned £F44,196.