From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 3, November 2002.

‘Alatini Fisheries Co. Ltd .is planning to open before Christmas a new speciality food shop on Taufa‘ahau Road, Nuku‘alofa, specialising in fresh, chilled and frozen foods.

Tricia Emberson, General Manager of ‘Alatini Fisheries, said that this $1.1 million investment would develop the same line of retailing that ‘Alatini has at the Small Industries Centre, where ‘Alatini’s export business was developing and there was a need for more space.

“The fact that our current retail shop, that has been operating since 1994, is far too small, drove me to build a whole new building for retailing.”

Tricia said that the new speciality food shop would not be like any other food shop or supermarket in Tonga.

“We want to make available to customers food items they cannot buy at another shop or supermarket. We are bringing in products that we know that our customers use but the other stores do not bring,” she said.

This included delicatessen items, and different herbs and spices, and catering for a variety of food items that people use overseas but could not find in Tonga.

The new shop is a single storey building of 500 square meters, complete with a processing room and in store air conditioning designed by Kool Tonga Limited.

Tricia emphasized that she wanted to maintain the quality of every food product.

The construction began in July and she hoped the new shop would be opened before Christmas this year.