From Island communities to urban markets: Tali's Ocean Waves creates new opportunities through local enterprise

In Solomon Islands, a growing tourism and value-added products business is demonstrating how targeted business support can create economic opportunities that extend far beyond the enterprise itself—reaching rural farmers, women, youth, and community producers across the islands.

Tali's Ocean Waves Hide Away Accommodation began as a tourism and accommodation business in Gizo, Western Province. Today, the business is developing into something much broader: a bridge connecting rural producers with customers in Gizo, Honiara, and the wider tourism market.

At the centre of this growth is a simple but powerful business model: source locally, add value locally, and create markets for locally produced products.

Creating Markets for Rural Women and Youth

For many rural families in Solomon Islands, access to markets remains one of the biggest barriers to turning skills and natural resources into sustainable income. Communities may have coconuts, traditional weaving skills, and other valuable resources, but distance, transportation costs, and limited access to customers can make it difficult to convert these assets into reliable livelihoods.

Tali's Ocean Waves is helping bridge this gap.

Women and youth from Simbo Island have traditionally been among the business's main suppliers of woven mats, baskets, and fans. As the business has grown, it has expanded its sourcing network to producers from other provinces, creating opportunities for more rural communities to participate in its supply chain.

Behind every woven mat, basket, or fan is more than a product. There is a woman using traditional skills to generate income for her household. There is a young person discovering that local knowledge and creativity can become an economic opportunity. And there is a rural community gaining access to customers it might otherwise struggle to reach.

By purchasing products from rural suppliers and bringing them closer to consumers, Tali's Ocean Waves is increasingly playing an important role as a market connector.

Turning Local Coconuts into High-Value Products

The business is applying the same approach to one of Solomon Islands' most abundant agricultural resources—coconuts.

Tali's Ocean Waves sources Pure Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) from local farmers and producers in Simbo, Vella Lavella, Kolombangara, and Ranongga.

But the value chain does not stop with VCO.

The business uses locally sourced VCO as the foundation for a growing range of value-added products. Its product line now includes Pure VCO Soap, Charcoal VCO Soap, and Honey VCO Soap, together with Pure VCO, Massage Oil, and Repellent Oil.

This move from selling raw or semi-processed commodities to developing finished consumer products represents an important step in local value addition.

It means that more economic value can be created within Solomon Islands while generating continued demand for products supplied by rural farmers and producers.

BLP Support Turning Opportunity into Growth

Recognising the potential of the business and its local supply chain, Business Link Pacific (BLP) approved an SBD 35,000 grant to Tali's Ocean Waves to purchase inputs for the production of soaps and coconut oil-based products.

The grant represents more than an investment in equipment or production inputs. It supports the business to expand its value-added product range, increase production, and respond to growing market opportunities.

Importantly, the benefits have the potential to flow further down the supply chain.

As production of VCO soaps, massage oils, repellent oils, and other coconut-based products increases, the business can purchase more VCO and other locally available inputs from rural suppliers. This creates a direct connection between business development support and income-generating opportunities at the community level.

The intervention demonstrates the multiplier effect that targeted support to a Pacific MSME can create:

BLP support → increased production → greater local value addition → increased demand for rural inputs → stronger market opportunities for farmers and producers.

Through this model, a grant provided to one business can potentially support economic activity involving many households and producers throughout its supply chain.

From Gizo to Honiara

Another significant milestone has been the business's expansion into Honiara.

Tali's Ocean Waves recently opened a retail outlet at the Art Gallery lock-up units in Honiara, providing a new market for its locally manufactured products and traditional handicrafts sourced from rural communities.

The outlet creates an important connection between island producers and Solomon Islands' largest urban market.

A woven basket made by a woman in a rural community can now reach a customer in Honiara. VCO produced by an island farmer can become an ingredient in a locally manufactured soap or body-care product sold hundreds of kilometres away.

This is inclusive private-sector development in practice: connecting rural production, local value addition and growing markets.

When a local business grows by creating opportunities for the farmers, women, youth and communities around it, business development becomes more than supporting one enterprise — it becomes an investment in a more inclusive, resilient and locally driven economy.

BLP supports SMEs across 12 Pacific Island nations by connecting businesses with quality advisory services, business tools, grants, concessionary lending, and other financial services designed to support inclusive and resilient private sector growth.

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.