Business Slowly Picks Up For KokoMana Chocolate Factory
Business is slowly picking up for one of Fiji’s local chocolate making factories, KokoMana.
The small scale cocoa farm at Daku Estate in Savusavu also offers local chocolate and cocoa tours for tourists.
The one and a half tours around the cocoa farm consists of a walk through the cocoa pods and the chocolate making plant. However with the COVID-19 pandemic, its target market has slowly changed to the local market.
Directors of KokoMana Pte Ltd, Anne Moorhead and husband Richard Markham said they have set up two outlets in Savusavu to generate local sales.
“Before COVID-19 we were selling here at the farm for tourists who visited but since we have had less tourists recently, we have started selling in Savusavu in two different outlets.
“We have been selling a few bars getting locals to try local chocolate,” she said.
“There is a little bit of domestic tourism that has also started.
“We have also had the British High Commissioner Melanie Hopkins visit the farm last week, we have also had a couple of other small tour groups recently so we have not gone back to normal yet but it was nice to be doing those things again.
She said while production of chocolate has halted for now, slowly things are getting better.
Expanding
Mrs Moorhead hopes to continue expanding its local market.
“We have a plan to come to Suva in a few weeks with our chocolates and see if we can start selling some in Suva which would hopefully start building our wider market.
“So we are looking to change what we do a little bit in order to sit with the current circumstances. KokoMana currently has four employees working on reduced hours.
Promoting sustainable farming
Aside from running a chocolate making business, KokoMana also practices sustainable farming.
With 400 cocoa trees spread over the two acre piece of land, there are more than 30 tree species grown along the cocoa trees. Mr Markham said KokoMana also has a thriving agroforestry area.
He said some of the plants used in the farm can be used in chocolate making.
“Things like kava, vanilla and coffee also grow very well with this agroforestry along with the cocoa, we would really encourage any small holder farmers not to just rely on one plant but rather have a mixture of crops,” he said.