Page 37 - IB November 2023

Food Processing Food Processing

concerns in the islands that this could
affect exports again.”
Preuss identifies logistics as another
test.
“There aren’t many boats going from
Samoa to Australia and from Samoa to
other countries. And that’s because
there hasn’t been a demand for them
because the exports been small.
“[If] we increase exports, we increase
logistic opportunities, we increase
money going into the Pacific, we
increase money in the pockets of our
farmers.
“There’s lots of opportunities, it’s
whether we have the resources back
home to meet those opportunities.”
Preuss says while their vision is to
grow, “We also know that we need to
work at a pace that the Pacific is ready
for. We don’t want to put unnecessary
pressure in farming spaces that
encourages our Indigenous farmers to
use chemical and things like that. We
need to activate our lands at a pace
that the Pacific is ready for.”
Being creative with product Phoebe Preuss and Glenn Reiss.
development and collaborations with
other industries is a way to address this,
Living Koko even produces a non-alcoholic cacao beer. and to the people and to the community, and I guess being
When asked if Living Koko was a green business, Preuss says able to bring our Pacific ways of being into this space and
“Yeah! Bright green!” to be fully authentic with our connection to it all. Whereas
It has received awards for its sustainability practices, and people see it as an ingredient, it’s not an ingredient to us, it’s
Preuss notes, “We use all components of the bean, and we totally part of our culture.”
ensure that all our by-products are used in creative ways Preuss says since starting Living Koko, she has had to relook
to invent different products and connect with different at her definition of success.
industries. We are also solar-powered, which means we “When I worked in a corporate space, success looked like
navigate our machine work and our schedules on our solar pay increases and climbing a corporate ladder and all about
intake. It helps keep our costs down but also helps give us a the currency of money. With Living Koko, I always see us
lighter footprint on the planet.” sitting in a waka or a vaa, in a canoe, the Living Koko canoe
Like the operators of Wilex (p34), she agrees that and when you look over the side you can see many different
certification is a challenging process for Pacific farmers due to currents holding us, our vaa up. Each current is a different
expense and scale. kind of currency.
Preuss says that another way they support farmers is by “Success hasn’t been just about whether we are going to
paying two-to-three times the international rate for cacao for make a profit, it’s also about what kind of impact are we
Samoan beans. having in the ripple effect of our business. And a lot of those
“Recognising that even their micro business or small ripples we’ll never see, which is fine. If we can plant seeds in
domestic plot farm is still a business and needs to have a spaces of different ways even in a business perspective in a
profit to be sustainable. A living wage just isn’t enough. To western business framework on how to navigate a heart-led
encourage food sovereignty in the Pacific, we go by what the business that is all about sustainability, thinking about person,
farmer believes the cacao is worth.” community, and planet holistically, then I think that that is a
She believes there is “room on the shelves for everyone.” definition of success.”
“Our unique selling point is our deep connection to the land

Islands Business, November 2023 37