Hawaiian revival of Maire no threat to Cook Islands exports

Before the 1970’s the maire (maile in Hawaii) from our southern group islands had no commercial value. Then in the early 1970’s Mr Don Beach better known as Don the Beachcomber came to the islands. He was interested in cultural products which might fetch a higher profit when sold in Hawaii.
I remember Don dealing in maire and piere from Mitiaro. Years later for some reason, Mauke became the supplier to Hawaii. I congratulate those who were responsible for the continuation of the maire as an export commodity to Hawaii. I strongly believe that there is a good future for maire as a commercial product.
The recent article in the “Hawaii Business Magazine” entitled `Bringing Maile Back Home” is in my opinion no cause for panic. The present excitement is due to the fact that “The Alii Pauahi Civic Club” will receive US$2 million from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and other sources for winning first place in 2009 University of Hawaii Business Plan Competition. From the Hawaii Business Magazine quote “Although maile is one of the most popular lei in Hawaii for special occasions, virtually all of what’s sold is imported from the Cook Islands and Tonga, where it is cheaper to produce.”The article continued quote. ..”In Hawaii, maile hasn’t been profitable.... and land is expensive.” I cannot see Hawaii suddenly producing large quantities of maire except if a lei is produced at say $40 and sold at $30. Cost wise our maire will be much cheaper for a long time yet.”Superior quality” is also mentioned in the article. For some consecutive years since 1999, 1 have handled maire in Hawaii, from Cook Islands, Tonga and Samoa. The Tongan and Samoan maire have bigger leaves and hardly any trace of the fragrance scent typical of good quality maire. Mauke and Mitiaro are superior in this aspect.
In regards to markets, firstly a local market especially in Rarotonga has gradually developed and at about $10 for each ei, that is a very good income for some people. On the other hand maire have always been a popular lei in the Hawaiian islands and in recent years this custom has spread to the mainland United States of America. So there is a chance that this market will expand.
Value of Maire Exports
1993 $202,000
1996 104,000
1999 36,000
2002 36,000
2005 18,000
2006 30,000
2007 18,000
The obvious question is, why the decline in production? The answer is simple. The industry is based on harvesting wild maire plants which can be devastated by any climatic change or manmade disasters. There has been no serious effort by anybody or any government to invest any money into the maintenance of existing plants and to an effort to increase acreage planted with maire in Mauke, Mitiaro, Atiu and perhaps Mangaia. These islands have the geographical makeup suitable for the production of maire.

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