With SIAL 2016 opening in Paris on Sunday, October 16, there is a sense of high anticipation among the four first-time Pacific Islands exporters taking part on the Pacific Islands Trade and Invest (PT&I) booth.
SIAL (Salon International de l’alimentation) is one of the world’s biggest trade fairs held every two years in Paris since 1964 specialising in the food processing industry.
The PT&I Pacific Islands booth is made possible by funding provided by the European Union under the Pacific Integration Technical Assistance Project (PITAP).
With attendance tipped to top 150,000 trade professionals, Pacific Islands exporters making their debut at SIAL 2016 include: Banz Kofi Fektori with its premium Papua New Guinea coffee range, Frezco Beverages featuring the popular “Aqua Pacific” mineral water; Niugini Organics and its organically certified virgin coconut oil and the ever popular, Tanna Coffee from Vanuatu.
Mr Nick Cartmell, Managing Director of Kana Food Marketing UK who will be overseeing the launch of Frezco Beverages’ ‘Aqua Pacific’ said, “Fiji has become well known among consumers in several markets as a source of premium Mineral Water. We are proud to bring our Fijian owned, International Taste award winning water, ‘Aqua Pacific’ to Europe.
“The company recently invested in a new multimillion dollar bottling plant, so the time is right to target the sophisticated and discerning European markets. SIAL is a good platform to get high numbers of visitors and I believe offers a great opportunity to pick up good leads for European distributors and sales.”
Robyn Ekstrom, PTI’s Trade Promotion Adviser Europe points out that the confidence to approach European markets is often linked to investment in equipment and plant as well as product innovation and strategic market segmentation.
Banz Kofi Fektori’s international market expansion plans are a case in point and Managing Director, Patrick Killoran is upbeat and prepared for the hard work ahead.
“Banz Kofi is not only a supplier of premium organically grown single origin coffee. Banz Kofi is also a premium coffee roaster and we pride ourselves on the fact that product freshness plays a major part in our brand and the flavour profile of our product. All Banz Kofi is roasted fresh to order and then air freighted to the customer,” Mr Killoran said.
“While this would normally pose a challenge with markets in Europe we have invested in the technology to not only ensure better preservation of our product but also open new windows of opportunity to specific customers and consumers. Apart from whole bean and ground coffee, we also produce 100% biodegradable Nespresso and Lavazza Blue Coffee machine compatible capsules and pods,” he added.
Banz Kofi currently exports coffee to Europe, the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. “But the reality is that future growth for us and our growers means building our export markets. The domestic market in PNG is growing but from a very small base. We need to expand to other regions and to add genuine value to our raw products. That is what will bring the extra money back to PNG, enable us to pay the farmers more for their cherry and in turn grow the coffee industry,” Mr Killoran said.
Appreciating the opportunity to exhibit the exotic PNG brand in Europe, Mr Killoran said, “Small growing businesses like Banz Kofi and our co-exhibitors can only achieve exposure to buyers and markets like Europe through the assistance of PT&I which give us this amazing opportunity to showcase our products at global events like SIAL 216 in Paris.”
Photo file: Pacific exporters participate in SIAL 2014