Story by:
F. Verprat
Hundreds of people were present yesterday at the site where a Morinda Inc. noni factory is being built. The president of French Polynesia,Oscar Temaru was accompanied by Morinda Inc. USA Vice-President, John Wadsworth, and a few other officials. Questions from the public related to possible assistance on the price of the seedlings and fruit by the kilo. No figures yet but the proposal is being discussed.
Impressive! That’s what the Morinda Inc. factory at Mataiea is. With nothing less than 7000 square meters, several dozen meters high and four times the potential production of the current facility, the future factory for noni puree is a tool that can further develop agriculture and exportation. This project is not new. It was born under the previous administration but with the support of Emile Vanfasse, then consultant for Morinda Inc.
A Beautiful Factory but a Better Price
The president of French Polynesia wished to publicize, by media, his visit to the site with the vice president of Morinda Inc. to remind of his electoral promises. Simply put, Oscar Temaru has always placed importance on his attachment to the development of the primary sector.
The press conference was held in great simplicity under a capital without political colors (neither orange nor blue). Some officials who assisted were Francis Stein, Social Dialogue; Emile Vanfasse, Economy and Finance; Keitapu Maamaatuaiahutapu, Agriculture; Gilles Tefaatau, Installation and Urban Planning.
The public who assisted comprised mainly of farmers desiring to know the financial promises of this administration for their country. Paul, from the community of Arue, wants to know if the new administration had the intention to help in the purchase of vanilla seedlings. “Each seedling costs between 150 and 200 FCFP ($1.50 to $2.00 USD). I need 1000 of them at minimum for it to be worth it. It would also be necessary to raise the price of sale for kilos of fruit. Right now the price is at 60 FCFP. The correct price would be between 70 and 80 FCFP”. If this farmer has not received a quantified response, the president of French Polynesia is pondering the installation of financial aid per seedling.
Oscar Temaru, Precursor of the Noni
“It’s an Old Story.”
‘I can say that I was one of the first to encourage Morinda, Inc. to come here about 10 years ago. To make the story short, their competitor in the United States had declared that noni from Tahiti should not be consumed taking into account my declarations to the United States regarding nuclear testing. Morinda asked me for explanations. I told them to have the noni from Tahiti examined in their American laboratories. By the grace of heaven our noni was safe. And it all started like that. It’s an old story. Regarding the tax litigation which opposed Morinda, Inc. in the Territory at the time of Georges Puchon, Oscar Temaru declared, “If administrative justice is busy, let it do its work”.
Emile Vanfasse, Minister of the Economy
“I am no Longer Morinda, Inc.’s Lawyer.”
Before being the minister of economy and finance, Emile Vanfasse was the legal counsel for Morinda, Inc. He had to defend this company regarding fiscal disputes from the previous minister, Georges Puchon. Several hundreds of millions of FCFP of revenues from taxes said to be missing were then in question. The case is still in the hands of the Judicial System. But for the minister, “I will treat all cases with complete objectivity. There will not be a difference in how I treat any issue just because I was a lawyer for Morinda, Inc. In my opinion, the construction of this factory is an excellent thing. I have supported this idea for a long time as a consultant for Morinda, Inc. This project has obtained the financial cooperation of banks as well as the Girardin Law.”
Philippe Sun, Morinda Communications
“Four Times as much Purée”
Morinda, Inc. produces one million bottles of TAHITIAN NONI® Juice a month in the United States with exportation in 70 countries. The current factory employs 38 people. The new factory with its 7000 square meters in Mataiea will be inaugurated in March 2005. “A year ago, we produced 300 tons of noni purée per month. Today, we put out 500 tons. When opened, the factory in Mataiea will produce four times more noni purée” states Philippe Sun, Polynesian communications director for Morinda, Inc.. New hiring may follow but no specific information has been given at this time. The hope of the Polynesian officials is to also see the processing of bottles become a reality in Tahiti.
