‘There is a market for duruka, breadfruit’

THERE is a market for

duruka or Fijian asparagus and breadfruit or uto that farmers in the North can contribute to, says Food Processors (Fiji) Ltd operations manager Krupali Ben.

Speaking in an interview with this newspaper, Ms Ben said FPFL’s major suppliers of both crops were in Viti Levu and they supplied them with 90 per cent of their demands.

Ms Ben said the company’s doors were open to other farmers around the country who had the ability to supply them with crops.

She said they were not concentrating on Viti Levu alone.

“We produce tomato sauce, chilli sauce, coconut cream, and Worcestershire PMU Sauce which is produced for Goodman Fielder while local agro-based products include canned

palusami in coconut cream, dalo, cassava, duruka, breadfruit and ivi or Tahitian chestnuts,” she said.

“Apart from this, we also produce marine produce comprising of reef fish, crabs, lobsters, freshwater mussels and prawns.

“Since duruka is a seasonal crop we look at exporting 390,000 bundles annually and this is only available in April and onwards.

“If farmers land their

duruka to the factory, we pay them $7 a bundle and at this stage there is always a shortage experienced during duruka season.”

Ms Ben said apart from

duruka they also exported

ivi which farmers could also sell to them as a source of income.

“Breadfruit is another crop that we are looking at and New Zealand buys three to four containers of breadfruit from us monthly which is close to 50 tonnes.

“We sell breadfruit to New Zealand, frozen and canned, but we still cannot satisfy the demand out there which is why we are encouraging farmers to hop on board and work with us to reach these markets at the same time enabling them to earn money.

“People interested can always find us in the directory as we are listed and they can even find us on our Facebook page.”

Since duruka is a seasonal crop we look at exporting 390,000 bundles annually and this is only available in April and onwards Krupali Ben