VIRGIN coconut oil (VCO) produced in Fiji and the Pacific has been tested as one of the top quality oils in the world.

After the opening of the new VCO factory at the Savusavu Copra Millers Ltd last Friday, a New Zealand company known as COCAVO had shown interest in purchasing VCO oil from the factory.

In an interview the company's chief operating officer Roger MacDonald said the company purchased four tonnes of VCO from producers around the country on a monthly basis.

Mr MacDonald said VCO was a very able product that Fiji could focus on rather than getting a mere $1.80 per kilogram for the production of crude coconut oil.

"Fiji and the Pacific seem to be a very good source of VCO and other organic products," he said.

"With the opening of the new factory in Savusavu today (Friday) there is hope that this would open doors to VCO producers to compete in the commercial markets.

"We have the technologies in New Zealand to up the production rate significantly to go from 200 to 100,000 litres of oil making a massive difference in productivity."

Mr MacDonald said supply of coconut was in Fiji but the question was whether machines and local producers could handle the supplies.

"At the moment as the global market value dictate we are buying $5 to $5.20 a kg of VCO from mills and local producers around the country," he said.

"In an age when people are crazy about looking young and defeating the ageing process, they have started to focus on healthy living and eating and this is where the interest in things like VCO comes in.

"The cosmetic industry is going big on using VCO to make their products," said Mr MacDonald.

| From the FijiTimes  |  January 2, 2017  ||