French Polynesia

faces price war in imported food

A price cutting battle in im ported foodstuffs looked likely in French Polynesia following the formation in early September at Papeete, Tahiti, of an association to buy and distribute hundreds of food lines from the US, France, New Zealand and Australia.

The association, called Sava, was formed by a group of ten local importers Comimpex, Coutimex, Hamon, Wan, Oceania, Mara, Sheilds, Essor, Morgan-Vernex and La Vanille—who were responding to the action of the strong Chinese controlled company of Cida which had in August begun cutting prices on a wide range of imported foods.

Cida had offered discounts to re tailers and hotel and restaurant owners and made inroads into busi

ness of its competitors in the import ing field.

To attract support for competition against Cida, a meeting was called at the Papeete Chamber of Com merce in early September. Over 250 retailers, shopkeepers, hotel caterers and restaurant operators, representing businesses on the major outer islands of Moorea, Bora Bora and Raiatea as well as Tahiti, attended.

Sava officials asked the guests to buy from their organisation, rather than Cida. They argued that food stuffs bought in bulk quantities would be cheaper per item, a saving which would be passed on to retailers and the public.

Trade observers said the Sava versus Cida clash was a reflection of two local trends—resentment from French and Tahitian businessmen that the Chinese have too great a stranglehold on local commerce, and general overstocking of many imports.

Void I’Australie was the invi tation of Noumea stores in Sep tember as they presented Aus tralia Week to their Caledonian clients.

Despite the 12i per cent. French franc devaluation which is now rais ing the price of Australian goods by about 20 per cent., three leading stores offered an extensive variety of Australian foods and fashions.

The fashions were particularly appreciated in a poolside parade of Caledonian mannequins combined with exhibitions from Caledonian and Australian swimming champions.

As far as food tasting was con cerned, the Australian manufac turers had a hard time, especially after school hours, keeping up with the demand for samples of Australian biscuits, ice cream, etc.

Due to the current winter ban on the importation of foreign ice cream, Caledonians had to wait until October before they could buy the Australian sweet.

Other items, from Australian orchids to building materials, were in strong demand with stores reporting up to 20 per cent, increases in sales of Australian goods during the week. • Norfolk Island and Byron Bay Whaling Co. Ltd., which was delisted from Australian stock exchanges seven years ago following the collapse of the whaling industry, will become the vehicle for the exchange listing of an Australian clothing manu facturer, Neater Fashions Ltd. Share holders in Norfolk will receive five fully paid 50 cent shares at par for every 100 shares of 50 cents they hold in Norfolk.