Bulou Wainikiti Silikomoala is a market vendor at the Suva Municipal Market.
She has been a vendor there for the past 12 years, initially starting with selling morning tea treats like puddings, custard pies, cassava pies, and cooked root crops like dalo and cassava.
While her earnings from there helped her care for the family, it was still not sufficient to fully provide for their needs.
In 2021, the 49-year-old mother of three decided to sell seafood like nama (sea grapes), vasua (giant clam), kaikoso (saltwater clam) and cawaki (sea urchin) because she felt there was a larger market for that.
She said she had to opt for a more lucrative alternative given the abundance of vendors selling morning tea goodies that begun to prove difficult to sell.
Fast forward to today, Ms Silikimoala said it was a decision she did not regret making, and now happily supports the needs of her family.
After her husband fell ill in 2018, she took over the role of being the breadwinner for her family.
Aside from providing for their daily livelihood, she also supported their children’s education – the older two have now completed their high school studies and the younger son still in primary school, and her husband’s medicinal needs.
All these did not discourage her because she said she was determined to do and give the best for her family.
In 2011, Ms Silikimoala said she started her market vendor business at the allocated area – the line of kiosks and part of the entrance to the main market facing Rodwell Road.
A few days a week of being consistently present earned her a spot to operate full time from Monday through to Saturday.
“There is always stiff competition among market vendors, especially among those of us selling cooked food like pieces, dalo, cassava because there were too many of us,” Ms Silikimoala said in an interview.
“I was determined to earn my spot here to operate on a fulltime basis because this is my bread and butter.
“Sometimes it was hard to sell from that spot which we were allocated because we were so congested that I couldn’t get a place.”
Ms Silikimoala recalls the time when she had to find another alternative because selling pastries and other baked or cooked food was not raking in enough money.
She said she was fortunate with her background growing up on the island of Dravuwalu in Naceva, Kadavu, she opted to sell seafood because she was familiar with it, and it was also always in demand in the city.
She was adamant that opting to sell seafood would secure her place at the Suva market, and also generate a good income.
“Also, I live in Wailekutu, Lami since I moved to Suva, and I’m familiar with some villages there such as Veisari and Waiqanake and so this is where I get my supply of seafood from.
“I am quite fortunate to have connected with some of them because this would help me maintain my spot at the market, and also the area allocated for seafood vendors are more spacious.
“I still operate six days a week from this seafood selling area but since I moved here in 2021, there is another competition – not only is there a competition among local vendors, there is also a competition with Tongan islanders.”
In her experience selling seafood, she said she had started to notice a difference in the sale of seafoods.
Of the seafood she sells, cawaki is always the first one to sell out daily. Ms Silikimoala said she has found out that Tongans have recently been the biggest buyers of this most-sort-after delicacy, with many taking it back to their island home.
She said those from other Pacific Island countries were also, in turn, buying this commodity from Tongans who bought it from Suva.
“Our Pacific Island neighbours buy lots of containers of cawaki, especially from the Tongan buyers.”
She said she was aware that there were some Tongans who had directly approached their main suppliers at Waiqanake Village for their seafood supply, particularly with sea urchins.
She said she has the same contact who directly prepares her supplies from Waiqanake.
“I must make sure that I stay consistent with my supply that it does not affect the sale of cawaki for my regular sea food lovers.”
Ms Silikimoala said she paid $100 for a 2-litre ice cream container filled with cawaki.
“With my 2l container I can fill about 12 to 13 of the 500ml containers and sell them at the local price of $10 for each container. I could easily earn a good amount of $130 from the sale of 12 to 13 containers of cawaki.”
Ms Silikimoala said she had been told by her Tongan customers that cawaki from Suva was taken back to Tonga and sold there too.
“I’ve heard from the Tongan buyers themselves that come here to the market that they would usually sell the same 2 litre ice-cream container filled with cawaki at a price of 400 Tongan Pa’anga (approx. $F382).”
She said over the years, she had noticed that the sale of seafood at the Suva market continued to increase significantly, given the demand locally and the consistent overall supply. She added her family had also continued to reap the benefits of her business over those years, with more growth opportunities on the horizon for them.
Bulou Wainikiti Silikomoala, 49, of Wailekutu in Lami sells containers of nama (sea grapes) at the Suva Market. Inset: Containers of cawaki (sea urchins) that sells for $10 a container. Picture: MEREANI VOLAU
A 500ml container of sea urchins locally known as cawaki sold for $10 each at the Suva market. Picture: MEREANI VOLAU
500 ML of seafood containers of sea urchins locally known as cawaki sold at $10 each at the Suva market. Picture: MEREANI VOLAU
