DKAY Exports is a fresh product export business operating from Naceva in Valley Rd, Sigatoka and is said to become a leading supplier of eggplants and papaya to the New Zealand market.
According to Nature’s Way Cooperative Fiji Ltd, the company is strategically placed in the “Salad Bowl” of Fiji and sources its produce mostly from its farm in Naceva and as well as from established growers in the Valley.
Last week our team caught up with the company manager Krishneel Kumar while they were getting ready to harvest their produce for export.
According to Mr Kumar their family had been involved in farming over the past 20 years and started their export arm two years ago.
He said his father worked in a block making factory and then later worked for about 26 farmers on their land before he could save up and buy his own land.
“My father used to rent farms and work on them and through that he managed to save enough money to buy land.”
Today the family owns land and farms and exports crops that include okra, eggplant, long bean, bora bean, ginger, tumeric and pawpaw.
Dkay Exports employs about 25 to 30 people, depending on the size of the harvest and export orders.
Mr Kumar said their main export market was Auckland, New Zealand and they exported all the produce to this market, including curry leaves and bael leaves during Shiv Ratri.
The company was fortunate enough to be able to invest into a freezer storage facility for their produce which helps in keeping the vegetables fresh.
Mr Kumar said they were able to purchase a packing shed and storage freezer on a one third basis from the Ministry of Agriculture, assisted by the Fiji Development Bank in 2017.
He said drought was also a major influence on produce in the area and for that they had bought a water pump to assist in keeping the farm well irrigated.
“The company is doing well and our export market is doing well except for some occasional cases whereby our shipments have failed to meet the New Zealand biosecurity requirement by a minor percentage.”
Mr Kumar said the company recently incurred a loss of about $500 in its export because of a tiny oversight in their okra shipment to New Zealand.
He said it was expensive for them to meet the biosecurity requirements and to dispose off the contents of the shipment that do not meet the requirements when the shipment reaches its destination.
However, Mr Kumar said they found it much profitable to sell their produce in the local market, considering that the price of vegetables in the local market was good.
He said they had plans to expand the company which would mean jobs for more people.
