The Fiji Sugar Corporation has refuted a report by Radio Australia that 16,000 Fijian sugarcane farmers will be impacted by Nestle’s decision to stop buying Fairtrade sugar for UK KitKat. [File Photo]

The Fiji Sugar Corporation has refuted a report by Radio Australia that 16,000 Fijian sugarcane farmers will be impacted by Nestle’s decision to stop buying Fairtrade sugar for UK KitKat.

Chief Executive Graham Clark says there are inaccuracies in the news report.

While setting the record straight, Clark says the FSC does not trade directly with Nestle UK and they do not expect any drop in their projected exports this year as a result of Nestle’s reported decision.

“FSC and our Fijian farmers have a very close relationship on the fairtrade and reporting like this is very damaging and it is worrying a lot of farmers. So there is a number of inaccuracies. First of all, Fiji does not trade directly with Nestle in the UK so we don’t know why they’re reporting that their decision will impact us when we don’t deal with them at all. In fact, our sales have nothing to do with what Nestle does. We see no drop in our projected exports this year, in fact, everything is fully contracted and demand has been good”.

Clark stresses that Fiji has not sold Fairtrade sugar to the United Kingdom in the last five years.

He says they have noticed a drop in Fairtrade sugar sales worldwide over the years, with standards such as “natural” or “organic” being more sought after in niche markets.

He adds they continue to sell Fairtrade sugar to some European markets such as Spain, Austria and Netherland.

He stresses there are 12,000 sugarcane farmers in the country and not 16,000 as stated in the report.