Bula Coffee is tapping into the agri-tourism industry with the opening of its headquarters in Mataqe, Sigatoka.
Luke Fryett who describes himself as the “man on the ground” said the company had invested around $300,000 to $400,000 into the development of the headquarters.
“This is the perfect place where we can mix our coffee processing and our coffee story with tourists who can come along, they can see the process, they can become part of the story as well,” he said during the opening ceremony.
“So setting up the coffee tours here, I think agriculture and tourism can, and they should go hand in hand.
“When one knows where the food they’re eating is coming from, they get to know the people, the culture and the land.
“How can someone come to Fiji on holiday spend it in a resort, not step foot on a farm and shake hands with a farmer and claim that they’ve experienced the true Fiji as they can’t.”
Mr Fryett said agri-tourism was a huge market, as it was growing rapidly around the world and Fiji was slowly catching up.
“So many agri-tourism ventures are starting up and I think that’s the way that tourism is going.”
He said agri-tourism benefited both the tourist and the farmer.
“When tourists interact on a personal level with foreigners, their food becomes a living, breathing part of their trip. It’s no longer just a coffee that they get in the morning.
“It’s realising that the coffee in the morning was picked by the lady that they met yesterday, the hand that they shook, and they see the hard work that goes into their coffee.
“And it’s also about the farmer who senses a great deal of pride when they know that the food that they have been working hard in the field is being served up on the tables and resorts and that people get to eat the food that they’ve worked hard to make.”
