Rice Company of Fiji has successfully turned around from a loss situation in 2009 to make a profit of about half a million dollars this year.
The Company suffered a $113,000 loss in 2007.
In the stakeholders briefing at the Reserve Bank of Fiji this morning, Group Chief Executive Officer, Ram Bajekal revealed that the removal of Import Duty on milled white rice in May 2008 by the government had a very material impact on the operations and business model of the company.
He said virtually overnight the company had to shift from being a miller of rice to trader of white milled rice, which also resulted in 51 people losing their jobs.
He confirms the company's market share dropped from around 60% to 30% overnight.
Rice Company of Fiji imports 30,000 tonnes of rice every year which costs them around $40 million.
The company does not buy rice locally as there are only pockets of rice farmers in the country who are planting rice for their own consumption.
Bajekal also said plans are there to buy local rice when there is sufficient supply.
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He added that sales during the first three months of this year have been satisfactory and marginally higher than the previous period.
Rice Company of Fiji is a subsidiary of Flour Mills of Fiji which has full milling capabilities though it currently operates only the cleaning, packaging section and selling the same in different pack sizes under the FMF brand.
Story by: Ronal Deo
