In Fiji’s capital, a branding project helps 15 handicraft vendors build their brand and promote their products.
The Suva Curio Handicraft Center is home to 71 vendors and is a well-known feature of Fiji’s capital, near the sea wall and the port where large cruise ships call year-round. Terry Sherren Salote and Bir Vijay Anand each have a stall in the center and recently participated in a branding project to develop their brands and promote their original products.
According to Mereia Thuimabualau, the Supervisor of the Center for the Suva City Council, the branding project aimed to encourage vendors to develop their unique handicraft brands.
The project was a collaboration between the Fiji IP Office and WIPO. After the project introduction, 15 vendors decided to participate.
Traditional Fiji Jewellery and accessories
Terry, a single mom with two grown daughters, makes and sells jewelry at the center. She also carries woven and cloth bags, wood items, and tapa flowers. Before becoming a vendor, she went from working in a supermarket to being a chef at a Chinese restaurant. She started as hired help at the center for two years, until the stall next to her employer’s became available for sale. With the help of a friend, she bought it.
After high school, Bir joined his father, who had had a shop in the center since 1992. He is now operating the shop and has been a vendor for 24 years. He sells his handmade seashell jewelry and some woodcraft that he purchases from artisans in villages outside of Suva. Some of those woodcrafts are then refined with Bir’s finishing touch.
Bir works with 10 to 12 artisans in villages, crafting masks, turtles, war clubs, or cannibal forks. They also supply him with seashells, rough wood, or pigs’ tusks.
The market stalls are Terry and Bir’s sole income.
Handcrafted Fiji Souvenirs in Suva
According to Bir, a few years back, “our main source of income was from foreigners, especially when the cruise ships came in.” The tourists would come directly to the handicraft market.
However, over the past few years, he said, tour guides and tour companies started organizing shuttle tours to Suva’s large department stores, such as Jack’s and Tapoose, “which greatly affected our customers and handicraft income.”
The market also attracts local visitors. Terry’s stall attracts many local customers, she said, particularly students, eager to discover her jewelry creations, with her daughter as “her best ambassador.”
Bir noted that local customers are mainly interested in cheaper jewelry, such as that made from coconut shells, rather than more expensive pieces made with mother-of-pearl (the iridescent layer inside sea shells).
Branded Fiji gifts that stand out from local competition
For market vendors, competition comes not only from the town’s department stores but also from other vendors. Terry and Bir have been considering ways to stand out.
Terry made a flyer that her two daughters distribute to tourists each time a cruise ship calls into the harbor, trying to inform them about the handicraft center “just around the corner.”
Participating in the branding project, she said she learned that part of branding is advertising the details and specifics of items for sale, including their origin and composition. Tourists need to know whether the jewelry is made from freshwater pearls or seashells and which kinds of stones I used, she explained.
Bir said branding will give his products an identity, using his brand name “Anand Craft and Souvenirs.” Terry wants to use her name “Terry Precious Investment” to differentiate her products from others’.
“Many vendors sold their products without a business name or brand identity, and through the branding project, vendors are now able to build recognition for their products,” explained Mereia. This recognition can start in Fiji and expand internationally, she said, through tourism, online advertising, and social media promotion. “The project also helped vendors understand the importance of presentation, packaging, and marketing.”
She now hopes that the project will lead “to better income-generating opportunities, encourage creativity, and help preserve authentic Fijian handicrafts by giving vendors a stronger identity in the market.” She also mentioned mass-produced products sold in large retail shops that copy traditional Fijian arts and crafts.
Increasing foot traffic to Fiji Artisan Gift Shops
With a branding and marketing strategy in place, Terry and Bir wish for greater fairness in access to the center. “When the cruise ships come in, there is no sign-off direction,” Bir said, adding, “Most of them say they didn’t know where the handicraft center is.”
Asking the tour companies and bus operators to direct a few buses to the handicraft center would boost the market and increase vendors’ revenue, he said.
Both Terry and Bir asked for better signage in multiple areas of the city and its surrounding areas.
Distinctive branding for Original Fiji Handicrafts
In the next five years, Terry and Bir want to use their branding strategy to protect their original handicrafts.
Terry plans to put her sewing skills to action and start displaying her creations with her brand tag in her stall. “I want my name to be recognized.”
Bir underlined the raw material sourcing issue he faces when large companies buy seashells in bulk to manufacture buttons and export them.
He used to have a workshop equipped with machinery where he could produce original handicrafts. However, following the COVID crisis and his father's illness, he had to cut down on his production work. To add to the hardship, a cyclone damaged the workshop. Bir now wants to set up his workshop with a proper infrastructure to start making his original handicrafts, “that’s totally unique.”
Mereia hopes “to see the Suva Handicraft Center become a stronger tourism and cultural hub in Fiji.” She also wishes that “the center will continue supporting local artisans, preserving traditional Fijian craftsmanship, and creating more opportunities for younger generations to become involved in the handicraft industry.”
