Samoa’s nonu export is succeeding unlike anywhere else in the region, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Nonu juice beat fish to become the number one export in Samoa in 2018, according to reports from the Central Bank of Samoa. It accounts for 42.1 per cent of commodity exports leaving the country. 

Market demand is high for nonu, as the world’s main exporter Hawaii has yet to recover from the devastation caused by a volcanic eruption.

Prices are increasing too, with more players in the marketplace. The report states Samoa Nonu Enterprise pays $13 per barrel of fruit delivered, while others pay .80 sene per kilo.

“Market demand is very high and that farmers have been collecting the fruit daily. Thus, Nonu Industry in Samoa is potentially promising for the future,” the report states.

M.A.F believes nonu exporters themselves have improved the nonu industry, with a “willingness to innovate and take risks.”

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Labour is coming to the table, with plans to develop a standard for Samoan nonu to guide farmers and exporters on the minimum standards required by everyone.

Nonu exporters have been calling for standards since the beginning of the year, when exporters refusing unripe nonuu began facing aggressive behaviour from farmers, the report states.

Global movement in the nonu marketplace could “stress out” Samoa’s nonu industry soon, because the Phillipines, Malaysia and India are beginning production.

“These countries have good processing capacity and the ability to reduce unit cost of raw materials under plantation mode of production,” said M.A.F.

To avoid issues with competition, Samoa’s nonu exporters need to increase supply chain efficiency, increase production through both land and labour, and establish supply contracts around the world.

Farm supply could be better coordinated as well, the report states, as well as trying to lower output costs and boost profit margins.