Dear Editor – Radio New Zealand International reported late last week that a workshop took place in Nadi, Fiji, when about 70 participants including experts from South East Asia and the Caribbean attended the three-day event organised by the Coconut Industry Development Project.
At the time, the team leader, Karen Mapusua, said the workshop would explore opportunities for the coconut industry beyond copra.
Ms Mapusua was reported to have said, “Traditionally we____ve been very copra based in what we do with coconuts but there____s many other opportunities out there. There____s also virgin coconut oil.”
“There____s also the niche products, dairy replacements, so non-dairy ice cream made with coconut cream or yoghurt, cheese, a whole range of those sorts of products that could well be worth investigating.”
Karen Mapusua said the workshop would also deal with problems facing coconut growers like the rhinoceros beetle.
While the Solomon Islands is already producing virgin coconut oil, it occurs to me that making non-dairy ice cream with coconut cream or yoghurt, needs further study and the potential for such products most certainly worth investigating.
Yours sincerely,
Frank Short
Thailand
