goes plastic

Fiji's yaqona cup goes plastic

Fiji’s traditional bilo or half coco nut shell, used for quaffing yaqona for as long as anyone can remember, has been imitated in brown plastic.

Thousands of durable duplicates are selling in Fiji department stores for about 7 cents —a good 23 cents cheaper than the real thing sells for in the markets.

Although the plastic bilos were intended initially for the tourist market—tourists do so hate drinking out of the same vessel, even if it is traditional—it seems that at least some seasoned yagona drinkers are finding them quite acceptable.

Mr. R. Hill, manager of Mini Moulders Fiji Ltd., the Lautoka company which makes the plastic article, says that about 2,000 have been sold since June, and another 1,000 are on order.

There’s some doubt about whether tourists will take to the plastic bilos.

As one Suva market vendor pointed out, it was the authentic traditional handcrafts that they sought.

The Chief Minister’s comment was seething, “I think it would be most appropriate to serve in them yaqona made from flour!”

The bilo (cup) used in the yaqona cere mony. Normally they are coconut shells, often highly polished.