Vailima Beer

Samoa’s business community deals with fallout from Vailima move

Now the Samoan Chamber of Commerce is working overtime to repair the damage done to business confidence, following the bombshell announcement.

The chamber’s CEO Hobart Vaai said the move caught the community by surprise.

“Our local business community are very upset at the decision given Vailima's iconic place in our history,” he said.

“It's been our main brewery for a very long time and it’s something that has close affiliation to Samoa. It is marketed as being Samoa-made and the fact it's moving to Fiji has caused a lot of people to be upset.”

'Taste of Samoa' will soon be brewed in Fiji

Vailima - which is advertised as 'The Taste of Samoa' - will now be manufactured at the company's Paradise Beverages facilities in Fiji.

Samoa Breweries Ltd is majority owned by Paradise Beverages Ltd whose General Manager Mike Spencer said in a statement that it had not taken the decision lightly.