PGR News from the Pacific

Posted 4:31 PM by Luigi

Cooks noni industry in trouble?

By Ulamila Kurai-Marrie of Cook Islands News via Pacific Islands Report.

RAROTONGA, Cook Islands (Cook Islands News, Nov. 10) – The Cook Islands nono industry has taken a drastic dive forcing local growers and exporters to resort to a collective regional effort to save their livelihood.

Major local exporter Cook Islands Noni Marketing Limited's Teava Iro yesterday revealed that producers from Asia have undercut prices by flooding the international markets with cheap nono products.

[PIR editor’s note: Nono, also known as Noni in other parts of the Pacific, is a green, knotty tropical fruit is about the size of a potato prized by ancient Polynesians for its medicinal value.]

Some months ago, Iro's company was exporting an average of 25,000 litres of nono juice a month but this took a downward turn to as little as 8,000 litres last month.

The selling price from his Titikaveka factory was NZ$4.50 a litre during the heyday but dropped to 80 cents to meet the Asian market price.

"Our business had gained strength since we started and this has been a very sudden decline," he said.

And yesterday Iro said they might have to further lower their price to 50 cents a litre in order to regain the markets.

Iro is not sitting on his laurels to await any help. His company has helped organise a public meeting today at the Kent Hall with other growers to discuss the slump and design strategies.

"But I am also going to attend the regional nono growers meeting in Fiji next month to ask for a regional effort to maintain the industry," he said. "We do not have the turnover like the Asian markets and some regional markets that have cheap labour are selling at lower prices, too. So we want to push as one body from the region and lock markets and get everyone to benefit."

Cook Island growers have been getting between 70 cents to 90 cents a kilo for their fruit, whereas growers in Samoa and Fiji are getting about 15 cents a kilo.

These regional competitors have at their disposal a much cheaper labour force that results in lower overheads.

Another nono exporter, Ake Utanga, whose company Kia Orana Natural Products Limited sold frozen fruits to Europe and New Zealand, is no longer in business. Her buyers in Switzerland informed her last month to put on hold any further shipment since "all pending orders have been cancelled by our customers ... noni market here is not looking good".

The Swiss firm specialises in providing unfermented, pasteurised noni juice called 'green noni' as a novel food ingredient, to be used in pasteurised fruit drinks.

The firm's chief executive officer, Gary Martin, told Utanga that the issue is not about quality but rather "the lack of interest in noni as a whole".

Martin said that a meeting he attended in Germany last month where stories told were universal- "product is not selling and everyone is seeing a decline in sales". While Utanga has come to a complete standstill, Iro has not let go any of his workers.



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By Ulamila Kurai-Marrie of Cook Islands News via Pacific Islands Report. RAROTONGA, Cook Islands (Cook Islands News, Nov. 10) – The Cook Islands nono industry has taken a drastic dive forcing local growers and exporters to resort to a collective regional effort to save their livelihood. Major local exporter Cook Islands Noni Marketing Limited's Teava Iro yesterday revealed that producers from Asia have undercut prices by flooding the international markets with cheap nono products. [PIR editor’s note: Nono, also known as Noni in other parts of the Pacific, is a green, knotty tropical fruit is about the size of a potato prized by ancient Polynesians for its medicinal value.] Some months ago, Iro's company was exporting an average of 25,000 litres of nono juice a month but this took a downward turn to as little as 8,000 litres last month. The selling price from his Titikaveka factory was NZ$4.50 a litre during the heyday but dropped to 80 cents to meet the Asian market price. "Our business had gained strength since we started and this has been a very sudden decline," he said. And yesterday Iro said they might have to further lower their price to 50 cents a litre in order to regain the markets. Iro is not sitting on his laurels to await any help. His company has helped organise a public meeting today at the Kent Hall with other growers to discuss the slump and design strategies. "But I am also going to attend the regional nono growers meeting in Fiji next month to ask for a regional effort to maintain the industry," he said. "We do not have the turnover like the Asian markets and some regional markets that have cheap labour are selling at lower prices, too. So we want to push as one body from the region and lock markets and get everyone to benefit." Cook Island growers have been getting between 70 cents to 90 cents a kilo for their fruit, whereas growers in Samoa and Fiji are getting about 15 cents a kilo. These regional competitors have at their disposal a much cheaper labour force that results in lower overheads. Another nono exporter, Ake Utanga, whose company Kia Orana Natural Products Limited sold frozen fruits to Europe and New Zealand, is no longer in business. Her buyers in Switzerland informed her last month to put on hold any further shipment since "all pending orders have been cancelled by our customers ... noni market here is not looking good". The Swiss firm specialises in providing unfermented, pasteurised noni juice called 'green noni' as a novel food ingredient, to be used in pasteurised fruit drinks. The firm's chief executive officer, Gary Martin, told Utanga that the issue is not about quality but rather "the lack of interest in noni as a whole". Martin said that a meeting he attended in Germany last month where stories told were universal- "product is not selling and everyone is seeing a decline in sales". While Utanga has come to a complete standstill, Iro has not let go any of his workers. * Comments: Post a Comment	Archive October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 January 2010 RSS Feed Alternative feed Contact Tevita Something new: Agrobiodiversity Weblog: For discussions of conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources of crops, livestock and their wild relatives. 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