Fiji Water’s parent company, The Wonderful Company is set to transform Fiji’s agricultural landscape with a 80-acre commercial farming pilot project in Vanua Levu.
“We brought our agronomists here on at least three different trips, we’ve looked at over 100 parcels of land, we’ve done soil testing on over 20 different parcels. We focus on science, which is like the quality of soil, the availability of water, the weather patterns,” Mr Craig said.
“We’ve done this through trial and error, that if you start with the wrong piece of land, you’re never going to have good years of profitable agriculture and so we’re looking for the right piece, and we found it in Vanua Levu, and we were very close to starting with an 80 acre pilot.
“We’ve already signed some contracts for the land.”
He said the pilot project will focus on growing lemons, limes, papaya, and mango, with an initial target of domestic consumption and potential future export opportunities.
“We intend to plant lemons, limes, papaya, mango, and we’re going to start with domestic consumption and then look for export opportunities.
“We’ve already grown all the seedlings for this pilot in California. We’ve had Fiji Biosecurity to California. They’ve reviewed the nurseries, they’ve said that the product can come in, and then we hope to plant additional seedlings in our nursery here with disease free rootstock.”
Mr Cooper said the project won’t be just for developing commercial farming, but could also be used as model for teaching locals on the best farming techniques.
“This isn’t just for us to develop commercial farming. This is a model for teaching. We know how to farm. We know the best farming practices in the world, and we want to bring those to Fiji.
“We want to teach people in Fiji how we plant and how we lay out our land and how we do irrigation, and how we grow products and nursery, and then how we work with cooperatives to develop businesses.”
Mr Cooper said the company hopes that this would be a start “for something much bigger over time” in Fiji.
The Wonderful Company Executive Vice President and General Counsel Craig Cooper (left) in discussion with the Permanent Secretary for Trade, Cooperatives, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Communications Shaheen Ali during the Fiji Institute of Chartered Accountants Congress 2025 held at the Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay Resort and Spa in Wailoaloa Nadi.
Picture: REINAL CHAND
