Asian fruit growers exporting to Australia and New Zealand are overtaking their Pacific competitors.
Cook Islands was once the biggest exporter of paw paw to New Zealand, but has been pushed out of the market by dynamic companies from the Philippines.
Last year, the Philippines exported $NZ1.4 million worth of paw paw to New Zealand, according to the Auckland office of Pacific Trade & Invest (PT&I).
Imported bananas also increasingly coming from the Philippines.
“One of the things that dictates this whole thing is skill and the continuity of supply,” Dev Nadkarni from PT&I explained to Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat program.
“When you have skill you can ensure continuity of supply, but when you don’t have skill, like in the case of islands, its very difficult to have a continuous supply of a particular variety.”
Fiji, which was affected by widespread flooding earlier this year, has had no papaya exports to Australia since March.
Mr Nadraki the Pacific Islands’ small capacity, lack of entrepreneurship and the move away from co-operative are also contributing to the loss of market share.
He is advising fruit growers in the Pacific region to focus on niche, luxury markets.
“That’s the only way the Pacific Islands can really make a dent in the export markets in Australia and New Zealand,” Mr Nadkarni said.
Source: Radio Australia