MANY people would usually refer to the coconut tree as the “tree of life”, or as the sporting world would know as the iconic logo of Fijian rugby.
But for two friends from the UK — Callum Drummond and Ellis Williams — it’s innovation in a nutshell.
The duo, both 30-years-old, first visited Fiji in 2012 as volunteers on Batiki Island in Lomaiviti with charity group Think Pacific, to teach and coach sport on the island’s primary school.
After spending almost two years on the island experiencing the island life and the iTaukei culture, they decided to set up a non-profit enterprise selling coconut oil harvested from Batiki.
Mr Drummond, who is originally from Churchdown in Gloucestershire, South West England, said the people of Batiki were amazing and treated them like family.
“We wanted to find a way of helping the families who had been so kind to us,” he said.
“The family I stayed with asked me ‘do you use coconut oil back in the UK,’ and that was really the light bulb moment.
“We saw that the villagers could produce coconut oil on the island, and we realised it was becoming increasingly popular in the UK.”
In May last year the two friends launched their own coconut oil brand, Bula Batiki, where more than 800 jars of coconut oil have been sold around the world including China, Australia and the US.
The products are also sold at Natural Grocery, a small shop in Cheltenham, a town in Gloucestershire.
“I knew in 2012 that I had to go back and see them again. We returned for Christmas in December 2014, and really experienced the subsistence hardships they face,” Mr Drummond said.
“We then started trying to create a business plan to produce pure virgin coconut oil on Batiki, ship it to the UK, jar it, and then reinvest the profits back into the community in order to develop housing, healthcare and education.
“Our primary aim is to establish a sustainable source of income. Producing coconut oil allows the villagers to earn more than double their previous income from selling copra (dried coconut).”
Mr Drummond said the business venture provided six months of sustainable income to the island.
“We are not pressurising Batiki islanders to change their way of life, as we don’t want to change their culture,” he said.
“Families only participate if they want to get involved.
“The chiefs in the four villages on the island really understand what we’re trying to do, and they’re really backing the project.”
Their business plan also gained recognition last year when they scooped the Cardiff University Sparks Enterprise Award in the UK which funded their coconut oil production.
The two friends have now launched a month-long fund-raiser to boost their oil production in the UK.
And the product itself represents its “own version” of a fair trade symbol, each jar of Bula Batiki Coconut Oil carries a tag noting the island family which harvested the oil.
While they have yet to distribute the product locally, they have started attracting interest through their Facebook page: Bula Batiki Coconut Oil and their website www.bulabatiki.com.
