The demand for home grown Cook Islands taro in New Zealand is high, with 900 kilogram of air freighted chilled taro selling out in two days.

For the first time, Prince Produce Product of the Cook Islands air freighted the root crop which landed in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday.

Chief executive officer of Prince Produce, Robbie Lauano and other representatives who visited the island to oversee the export, were impressed with the sales.

Because of the high demand for local taro, discussions with more growers who have expressed interest to get on board started yesterday.

Prince Produce Product of the Cook Islands has the License and Import Certification to clear the shipment in-house, and the clearance of the taro was processed within three days, Lauano said.

The first air shipment of Rarotonga taro to Auckland came from the farms of local growers Joe Simpson, William Cuthers, Oki Teokoitu and Ben Tumupu.

Lauano said all the growers were paid upfront and in full for their produce.

“There is a large Cook Islands community in New Zealand, and there is a demand is for taro from the Cook Islands,” said Lauano.

Prince Produce Product of the Cook Islands is working towards more growers to export their taro. Their representatives are expected to visit Rarotonga again in three weeks to hold talks with taro growers.