Page 21 - IB March 2021

Agriculture

LOCAL PRODUCE, LOCAL MENUS

SHIFTING THE NEEDLE IN TOURISM

By Samantha Magick

When 116 farmers in Fiji’s western division received ‘Cash
for Cultivation’ from the government this month, Agriculture
Minister Dr Mahendra Reddy told them: “We want the demand
for vegetables, fresh produce, or root crops that comes from
the local sector, whether it is from the tourism or the service
industry, it should be fulfilled by us.”
The Pacific Islands Farmers Organisation Network (PIFON)—
which has members in Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, Solomon
Islands, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste— has suggested
resort chefs and procurement officers could be using this time
(of border closures) to visit farmers and talk about what they
need to in order to use more local produce in their restau-
rants. “There is an opportunity for farmers and hotels to Janey King Lilo. Photo: ACAIR Yemi Lee
enter into contract farming agreements that will encourage
farmers to plant longer-term crops, including fruit and nut and they are so essential to consistent supply,” says Janey
trees, now in readiness for when tourism begins to recover,” King-Lilo, a chef and consultant to the tourism industry, who
PIFON says. advises at Volivoli Beach Resort and other boutique properties
More than half of the fresh produce served in hotels and on a whole range of food and beverage (F&B) issues, from
resorts in Fiji’s main tourism areas in 2017 was imported, rep- menu design, through procurement, cooking to plating.
resenting an import bill of more than F$38.5 million (US$18.8 Middlemen (or produce aggregators) deal in cash. So do
million) reports the International Finance Corporation (IFC). farmers, who cannot wait for 30 or 60-day payment periods
Some of this produce was crops that grow well, and as often required by commercial operators. Farmers too will
year-round in Fiji. Tropical fruit juice alone accounted for often not have access to reliable transportation, let alone
F$1,566,750 of the import bill. refrigerated trucks.
Hotel purchasing managers, chefs and general managers Lee, who says he has been working with IFC to try and
told the IFC researchers that seasonality and inconsistent sup- implement more localisation in procurement, agrees that they
ply of local produce were the most common reasons they did need to work with middlemen.
not buy local fruit and vegetables. Quality was also an issue. “Our focus is on producing food for our guests, so we don’t
That has been the experience of Yemi Lee, the Area really have the whole team who can go to the farms.”
Director of Finance & Business Support South Pacific at the “We try to promote a farm to table. We’re not selling the
Intercontinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa. middleman’s name, we’re selling the farm name, as in, ‘this
“Farmers here, they don’t really have enough production,” vegetable is coming from this farm, the way they produce this
he says. thing is organic’, all of that. So we promote the farmer, [and]
“The lettuce, the tomatoes and the chillies, are just one the middlemen become the logistics supply. But you don’t
day consumption. Because for us we consuming lettuce 20kg ditch them out, everybody plays a part.”
a day’s, pre-COVID. We consume watermelons around 80 kg Both Lee and King-Lilo say education is key.
a day, cassava 100kg a day. That’s the scale of InterContinen- A number of schemes have tried and failed to support com-
tal’s purchasing power.” munities to farm and supply hotels and resorts. Sometimes
The IFC report talked about connecting farmers directly this is because farmers will want to sell at market price when
with the tourism industry. Most procurement currently hap- those prices are high, despite undertaking to supply a hotel or
pens through middlemen and suppliers. resort at an agreed price, on a long term basis.
“While some farmers have been successful at entering new Lee says this mindset needs to change, and a “modern way
markets, most farmers have little understanding of how to of farming” introduced to reduce overheads with the help of
successfully market to the hotel sector. They do not know how large institutions.
to enter this new market, identify new buyers, and create Chefs trained by the Australia Pacific Training Coalition
marketing strategies to entice chefs and purchasing managers (APTC) are being taught to use ingredients readily available in
to try their products,” it said. Australia, with the aim of sending them to work there under
However others who work in the industry, say the middle- labour mobility schemes. And during this period, when they
men play a valuable role. might be at home experimenting with ingredients or produc-
“I have great respect for them. These guys hustle every day, ing value added products, they don’t always have the money

Islands Business, March 2021 21