The Smell Of Hot Cakes

It’s an ill wind that blows no one any good, even a hurricane. Bebe, which blasted Funafuti and half Fiji, was no exception. She got the Fiji National Marketing Authority off the hook over a deal in potatoes.

Fearing the Sigatoka potato crop, which is now Fiji’s main supply, would be late this year, the authority bought 300 tons from New Zealand’s South Island. But, the Sigatoka potatoes came along in time—at the controlled wholesale prices of Bic a pound, 9ic to the retailer and 12c to the consumer.

The NZ potatoes came along as well and the authority, which bought them at around 5c offered them to the merchants at 8c but the merchants, who were used to paying much below

that for the NZ potatoes—in the days when they were allowed to import them—refused to buy. There were plenty of potatoes, anyhow. The result was a large concentration of rejected potatoes on the Suva wharf.

Three weeks after arriving, most of them were still there and rotting, The authority cut the price to 6c but there were no takers until Bebe blew along.

Said marketing authority chief Alf Hazelman; “We’ve no trouble selling them. We sold 150 tons in the last week and there’s only about 10 tons left. They’re going like hot cakes.”

But the smell on the wharf, as the sorters picked out the rotten ones, wasn’t the sort which comes with hot cakes.