Vugalei Beds Earn Fijian Made Recognition
Vugalei beds, locally generated by community-based Gaunavou Cooperative Limited (GCL) has now been nationally recognised and certified with the Fijian Made Emblem by the Ministry of Trade.
This was following the signing of a renewal of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Gaunavou Cooperative Limited (GCL) and Vision Investment Limited (VIL), the parent company of Courts Fiji Limited last Friday. The two parties had signed the initial MoU in 2023 enabling Courts Fiji Limited to be the fixed market purchasing beds produced by GCL.
This business venture was made possible following the training of youths from Vugalei District in timber processing and manufacturing. After graduating from the training, Government through the Ministry of Forestry “Forestry Subsidy Grant” invested a total of $29,864.80 through the purchase of small value adding machines to Gaunavou Cooperative Ltd.
The value adding machines were handed over to GCL in April 2023 and by December, GCL had processed a total of $70,209.20 worth of eighty (80) beds to Courts Fiji Limited.
Chairman of Gaunavou Cooperative Limited, Mr. Josua Seduadua said with the renewed MoU, they are now required to supply 80 beds every month.
“From 60 beds, we will now be supplying 80 beds ranging from double, queen and king size beds,” Mr. Seduadua said.
Vision Investment Limited Head of Business Development Mr. Anil Senewiratne said they were more than pleased with the quality of beds supplied by GCL and were delighted to continue with the partnership.
“We gave them a challenge under very strict compliance in order to get these beds into our stores. With the quality of beds that they have been able to provide, our sales people were amazed and couldn’t believe that the beds were community made from Vugalei District,” Mr. Senewiratne said.
He added that the Vugalei beds deserved to be recognised with the Fijian Made Emblem.
“Vugalei at Courts has become a brand almost as popular as Hisense. Customers are particularly demanding for Vugalei branded beds,” Mr. Senewiratne said.
Meanwhile, Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, Honourable Kalaveti Ravu said the milestone achievement is for the benefit of key stakeholders and continuing industry support would be vital in further strengthening the Ministry’s efforts in this regard.
“The aim is to increase efficiency which means greater recovery rates from processing of logs which will generate more value and employment, hence increasing the contribution of the forestry sector to Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” Hon. Ravu said.
He added that it is an exciting time not only for the Ministry of Forestry but for the forestry sector as a whole, to see the work that the Ministry had initiated to support the communities and improve livelihoods beginning to show positive results.
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