The places you can go with a business plan
It seems obvious that a business exporting local Samoan food products to New Zealand would be successful. With almost as many Samoan’s living in New Zealand as live in Samoa, there is a ready-made market hungry for the tastes of home. Not to mention the many other Pacific peoples – and kiwis – who can’t get enough of those flavours and products. However, it takes a well thought out business plan to actually do it.
Setting up such a business in 2019 on the sparsely populated island of Savai’i, Savaii Foods & Produce Ltd source their products, then clean, process, and package them ready for freezing and export. Heading to New Zealand are taro, breadfruit, yams, papaya, and bananas, all grown on the island.
Savaii Foods & Produce distribute and sell their produce through a Samoan collaborative based in Papatoetoe, Auckland. A perfect match enabling the seamless distribution of Samoan traditional produce to the roughly 120,000 Samoan people who live in Auckland. Director of Savaii Foods & Produce, Emosi Puni, aims to “cut out the middleman, so we are essentially the exporter and importer of our products”.
The business has grown quickly, creating employment in their processing facilities and an export market for Savai’i growers and farmers to sell their produce. So quickly in fact that after six months in business their accountant, Alice Niumata-Leota from Leota & Niumata Chartered Accountants, suggested they apply to Business Link Pacific’s (BLP) subsidy service for help managing their growth and fulfilling their business obligations with accounting, VAT and income tax returns.
Emosi is delighted with the progress his business has made with the guidance of Alice and her team,
It’s been a big help to have an accountant who knew what to do and what to recommend, especially for someone relatively new in business. The assistance from BLP has been very beneficial to allow us to properly develop our start-up business.”
COVID-19 has had an impact on any business, but for Savaii Foods & Produce the impact has been somewhat different. The backlog in processing ships in Auckland harbour resulted in a congestion charge being levied for all ships in the queue, which was naturally passed on to customers of the shipping companies.
The flow on effect of that is that plans for business expansion have been somewhat delayed, at least until shipping – and the world – is back to normal. Emosi hopes to use the current business model to open further processing points, and expand beyond the New Zealand market to Australia, and perhaps even the US.
New Zealand has been a good place to start this business because of its strict biosecurity measures. We had to be truly excellent with our processes to ensure the products were acceptable,” says Emosi. “Freezing the products almost eliminates these issues. Breadfruit is a commodity which has not been permitted into New Zealand in its raw form, but frozen, it is acceptable.”
Another fine example is papaya.
We export papaya in puree form because whole papaya with its skin and seeds cause a hassle for biosecurity – and we all know people don’t buy papaya for its skin or seeds, they want the flavour of the flesh.”
Emosi Puni’s enthusiasm for his business is infectious. He is a businessman with a conscience.
There are two essential elements for any business I am involved in. One, that it appeals to me as a person, and two, that it also puts something back into the community and the people.”
This business definitely ticks both of those boxes. With good advice and assistance from BLP and Leota & Niumata, along with plentiful supply and a market eager for his product, this business can only go in one direction.
BLP supports an extensive network of advisory partners across the pacific islands, who offer services in 15 different areas, including accounting, marketing, human resources, diversity and inclusion and business strategy.
To get in contact with a BLP business advisor, businesses that employ 5 to 50 employees can use the free self-assessment online tools, such as the Business Health Check and the Continuity planner.
Also, companies can book a free face-to-face consultation in the countries where BLP operates to go through the business diagnostic, a comprehensive assessment of business needs and opportunities. Based on the assessment results, businesses are provided with a list of Business Advisory Service Providers that can help address relevant business needs.
Visit Business Link Pacific Portal to use our free self-assessment online tools or book a local consultation in your country. Country contacts.