Expanding production of coconut products like oil and dairy substitutes will be discussed this week at a Fiji workshop to improve the Pacific's coconut industry.
Photo: 123rf
About 70 participants including experts from South East Asia and the Caribbean will attend the three-day event in Nadi, organised by the Coconut Industry Development Project.
Its team leader Karen Mapusua said the workshop would explore opportunities for the coconut industry beyond copra.
"Traditionally we've been very copra based in what we do with coconuts but there's many 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.
