During the late 19th century when European powers began colonising the Pacific Islands, traders became privy to the existence and uses of coconut oil among the indigenous people.
They viewed this as an opportunity not to be passed up and explored the viability of coconuts as a business.
As a result, coconut plantations began springing up in the colonies and the copra industry was born.
There was a demand for edible and soap making oils at the time and so copra, the dried flesh of the coconut, was pressed and the oil exported to both Europe and the United States where it was widely used for frying and as shortening in baking.
Before the Hidden Paradise became what it is today with tourists and yachties sailing in to unwind in world renowned resorts and to soak in the picturesque natural beauty of Savusavu, it was just a quaint little copra town on the eastern edge of Savusavu Bay.
Perched over the water on a little point jutting out into Namaka Creek is a building that has stood on its pylons since 1906.
Built and run by a co-operative of copra planters, the Copra Shed played a central role in lives of the inhabitants and the people who replied on getting their copra to the shed before the trading boats arrived.
It was a collection point for the copra that was ferried by punt from across Savusavu Bay and by truck where road access was available.
The process of making copra began in earnest with the planting of trees.
They were planted in lines with a spacing of about 10 metres, working out to between 100 to 160 trees per hectare, with a single tree able to produce about 50 to 80 coconuts per year.
The mature coconuts were collected and split and the flesh was cut out using special knives.
The flesh was put in a dryer before being packed into bags and stored for transport to the Copra Shed where it was weighed and graded and stored until a boat would collect the bags right on the jetty before steaming to the mill in Suva and before that Levuka.
For plantations further out along the coast or where there was no road, the logistics were a little more difficult.
The copra boats would anchor just off the plantation. Punts would be lowered to go to shore and transfer copra to the boat. There were also shops near nearly every village and the keepers would buy copra from smaller surrounding plantation owners and villagers and these were also collection points.
Long time Savusavu resident David Simpson still vividly remembers the commotion the calling of a copra boat would cause.
“The boat could arrive at any time, day or night, high or low tide,” he said.
“If it arrived in the middle of the night my father would send me to wake up the boys to come and get the punts loaded.
“If it was low tide they would have to carry these big bags that weighed in excess of 100kg and wade out until they were up to their armpits in water to get the bags into the punts.”
Apart from just collecting the copra, Mr Simpson said the boats provided essential services for those living out on the plantations.
“In the 1960s we had boats like the Yanuwai that had banking facilities and they would also unload goods for our plantation stores.”
At the height of the industry, Fiji was producing massive amounts of copra — over 40,000 tonnes in 1952.
However, the copra industry was reliant on contracts with the British government for the collection and marketing of copra.
The industry as a whole took a down turn when the British Ministry of Food’s contract expired on December 31, 1957.
The Pacific Islands Monthly reported in its January 1958 edition that there would be no government control of copra prices.
“Producers sell where they wish. Bulk of copra goes to crushing-mill in Suva, whose price on wharf, Suva, is announced each week.”
The expiration of the contract meant the planters would be at the mercy of the world commodity market.
The world prices fluctuated a lot and there was always a row between the planters and the millers over the sharing of the profits.
Mr Simpson said when the prices were down the millers wanted more and the farmers couldn’t live on less. The ensuing stalemate eventually shrivelled the industry down to producing only 2000 tonnes per year, a 95 per cent reduction according to a speech by the Minister for Agriculture Dr Mahendra Reddy in 2018.
It is unclear when the Copra Shed itself stopped being used to store copra for the boats but it may have coincided with when the boats stopped doing the copra runs and the establishment of a copra mill in Balaga, Savusavu, in the early 1980s.
Time and the elements took their toll on the abandoned building until 1989 when it was given a new lease of life when Suva-based businessman Anthony Philp and Savusavu-based geologist Geoff Taylor applied to the National Trust of Fiji to refurbish the building and turn it into a marina.
Mr Philp said that after almost 80 years the structure was still sound.
“It was superficially run down but the structure was okay,” he said.
“We applied to the National Trust of Fiji to refurbish the building because it came under them and we weren’t allowed to alter the footprint or the profile of the building.”
Tourism and yachting have taken a major role in the Savusavu economy and the redevelopment of the Copra Shed combined with its geographic position helped make the little town on the bay a world class yachting destination.
“Savusavu is perfect for yachting tourism.
“The majority of the yachts that come to Fiji come from the East and have to come through here to get to other parts of Fiji.
“It was built as a wharf shed so it was already perfect for turning into a marina and because me and Geoff are sailors, this was the concept from the start.”
Not too long ago Savusavu recorded a record number of over 100 yachts in the harbour at a single time.
“It is the birth place of nautical tourism in Fiji.
“I say this with tongue in cheek but Savusavu wouldn’t be the same without it.”
On March 25, Savusavu became a port of entry under the Government’s Blue Lane initiative, reopening Savusavu to nautical tourism under COVID-19 safe conditions.
From storing copra to hosting retail, food and beverage outlets and the Savusavu Yacht Club, the transformation could not have been more prominent or aesthetically pleasing.
It now stands a tourist attraction, a world famous marina, a monument to rebirth and repurpose and a reminder of a bygone area that helped build Fiji.
