Papaya production in the island nation of Fiji is on the rise, and grower-marketer Produce Specialties Ltd is looking to new markets in Asia to absorb the growth.
Accounting for around 60 per cent of the country’s papaya production, Produce Specialities hopes to take advantage of a new direct air service to Hong Kong to begin exports to the market.
The company currently exports its proprietary Sunrise Solo Red papaya variety to Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
But with acreage on the rise and a new bi-weekly Air Pacific route from Nandi to Hong Kong, new markets are needed, according to the company’s joint managing director Graeme Thorpe.
“We have 35 acres (14ha),” he told Fruitnet.com. “But by the new year we’ll go as far as 60 acres (24.3ha)…and by this time next year we’ll have 100 acres (40.5ha).
“Currently we export up to 5t a week, but early next year we’ll be up to 20t a week.”
Produce Specialties sources its papayas from the company’s own farms as well as contracted farmers, and adheres to low chemical use procedures required by the Japanese Department of Agriculture. The Fijian papaya season begins in February.
Mr Thorpe said Hong Kong is an attractive potential market for the company, and as production grows, Produce Specialties is looking even further afield.
“The government has started developing a quarantine procedure to the US as well, and we might have access next year,” he explained. “So we may look at growing in other parts of the world as we gain access to other markets.”
Taking part in the recent ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA trade fair, the largest of its kind for the fresh produce industry in Asia, the company received enquiries from new customers in China, Europe, the US, Canada and Australia. Produce Specialties was the first Fijian company to exhibit at the event.
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