Consistency and sustainable continuity are the biggest stumbling blocks for the pawpaw export trade in the country.
This was the view of Nature’s Way CEO Michael Brown.
He said a New Zealand market study had revealed a huge earning potential for Fiji exporters and, at the same time, exposed the inconsistency of local producers.
“A study of the New Zealand market undertaken by US Aid’s Commercial Agriculture Development Project in 1995 concluded that papaya sales in New Zealand of 1000 tonnes at remunerative prices would seem to be readily achievable provided there was continuity of supply and good quality fruit,” he said.
“As is so often the case with Fiji agriculture, this continuity of supply was not forthcoming.”
As a result of this, Mr Brown said, Kiwi consumers were turning to fruit from other Pacific island countries.
“The market uptake of the smaller red-fleshed sunrise variety was also slower than expected, with consumers having an established preference for the larger ‘Waimanalo’ variety from the Cook Islands.
“In recent years the Philippines has become the dominant player in the New Zealand papaw market, accounting for 70 per cent market share in 2008.”
A total of 27 tonnes of pawpaw was exported to Australia and New Zealand in July last year compared with 45 tonnes in January 2012, a result reflective of the impact of the 2012 natural disasters on plants.
Source: The Fiji Times