In the Cook Islands, cultured pearls emerge from their black-lipped mother-of-pearl shell in an amazing spectrum of colours, reflecting iridescent tones that shimmer across the pearls’ deeper silver grey to black shades.
A local business that farms and retails these beautiful black pearls is McLeod Enterprises, owned by brothers and sisters John and Apii McLeod.
John manages the pearl farm operations in remote Manihiki. Once the pearls are dredged from the ocean, removed from their shells, sorted and shipped to Rarotonga, where Apii is based. Apii creates the fine jewellery that is so popular and retails it in their store set up in 2014, ‘McLeod Pearls of Manihiki’ as well as the local market on Saturday.
In 2024, needing some help to improve and expand the business, Apii approached BLP. After talking to local BLP Business Service Manager Angela Kennedy and completing a business assessment, Angela connected Apii with BLP approved Accounting and Finance Advisor Iokopeta Williams from IWM. As Iokopeta is a BLP advisor, Apii was able to apply for a BLP subsidy to reduce the cost of IWM’s services.
“Receiving the subsidy to make the cost of IWM services more affordable was a big help for a small business like ours. We got our books up-to-date and sorted for the tax department, and fixed issues that been caused by a previous accountant.”
McLeod Enterprises has received a BLP subsidy for digital advisory services provided by Esther Tetava from Haus of Skai to establish a website with an integrated purchasing system.
“This is an idea I’ve had in my head over the years to help us sell more pearls. We have quiet tourist times on the island and the website will help us get the product out there. We do have a Facebook page, but selling on Facebook is a lot of headaches from people who say they want products, and they don’t come through.” She says with the new website, the sales process will be more seamless and efficient. “We will have more possibilities to make sales with the website.”
“Esther is awesome. She communicates well, everything is clear, so I understand, and she always updates me on what she’s doing. Haus of Skai is also helping us with a new logo.”
McLeod pearls are farmed in Manihiki, over a thousand kilometres north of Rarotonga. John and Apii’s uncle started a commercial pearl farm there in the 1980s, joined later by their father. There are around 30 pearl farms in the Manihiki lagoon. The McLeod have been producing cultured pearls since 1993.
Extreme isolation in the farming operation comes with its own set of business challenges, says Apii.
“We need to freight so much up there so it’s a big expense and the cost of communication. Shipping up there is very infrequent and expensive and not very reliable. We might get a ship up there every three months. We ship fuel, food, equipment. We have to buy in bulk food, bulk fuel – it needs to be enough to last until the next ship.”
“Labour is also a big challenge on Manihiki. Back in the 1980’s there were about 800–900 people on the island, but it got hit by the cyclone in ‘97. Today there’s somewhere around 200 people including infants and kids. We employ three labourers in the farming operation. Because of the labour shortage, we work with other pearl farmers when we need extra hands in the busy times such as seeding the pearls and harvesting.”
With the financial and advisory support through BLP, McLeod Enterprises have secured a stronger financial future and can now more easily showcase and sell their beautiful pearls – not just in the Cook Islands but worldwide.
BLP facilitates access to business advisory services and financial support. To start your journey with BLP, you can self-assess your needs by using the free online tools available to help small- and medium-sized businesses diagnose areas in their businesses that an advisor could improve.
The first step can be the online Business Health Check. You can also check your business’s resilience to respond to crises or climate change challenges on the Business Continuity Planner and the Climate Action Sensor. If you prefer to meet a local BLP representative in person to discuss your business, get in touch with our local partners to arrange a face-to-face Diagnostic.