Release: Perles de Tahiti

[jshepherd]

For immediate release
From Merehau Anastas
Perles de Tahiti.net

(there are a lot of typos and grammatical errors, some of which I fixed but others I just left in order to not change the gist of the release - Jeremy)

What’s up Doc?

How is the pearl industry of French Polynesia doing?
Is it in deep crisis?
Will Pearls de Tahiti GIE disappear?
A large number of our international partners raise these questions and wait for answers.

It is a fact, like often in dubious times, the microcosm of the pearl industry in Tahiti is currently noisy with a multitude of rumors, more insane ones than others, stressed by a chronically political uncertainty which prevails here since 2004 and carefully propagated with the rest of the world via the Internet.

To that comes to be added a very tense international economic conjuncture, which increases uncertainties and encourages with the wait-and-see policy as: the soaring oil prices, the rise in prices of strategic agricultural goods; the US dollar and the yen steady state face to euro; the failure of Doha Round negotiating groups.

Consequently, it had been at least surprising that Perles de Tahiti GIE was not affected by such confused, local and international, context full with risks, and the representatives of pearl producers organizations, sitting at GIE Perles de Tahiti’s board of directors are worried by the persistent slumps of their goods, just as by the recurring fall of its trading price.

The directors of the board are aware of the problems to be solved and of their responsibilities. As a result, they decided on June to proceed to a complete reorganization of the grouping, at the same time as they fixed the second half-year activity plan, of which the main components are:

On Perles de Tahiti GIE organizational level

• Martin Coeroli’s departure
Decision to end with Martin Coeroli’s position as general manager of the company coming from the board of directors was approved by May 24, 2008 general meeting, with recognition to the excellent work he achieved to build and enforce the top of a range brand image of Tahiti cultured pearls worldwide. But the world around us is moving very fast. Thus, the rise of global market competition lead the board of directors to pass to another phase of development of the product branded Tahiti cultured pearl promotion and marketing and thus of Perles de Tahiti GIE grouping also. Since it was a question of implementing a new strategic direction, this change of management is a common management act.

• The interim management
Meanwhile, in order to palliate to Martin Coeroli’s departure, the board of directors entrusted an interim management to the vice manager, Mrs. Merehau Anastas, supported in that task by a consultant, an expert of French Polynesia pearl industry problems and also a specialist in corporate communication. There is thus a pilot at the helm of the outrigger Perles de Tahiti GIE

• The new strategic directions
With them two, assisted in particular by the team of GIE, their role is to work out a new marketing and promotional strategy of communication for the GIE, and to reconsider as well a new functional organization of the grouping, that they will have to submit to the board of directors by the end of September.

[jshepherd]

On the 2008 activity plan level

The significant fall of Tahiti pearls total sales of the first 2008 six-month period, which directly impacts the grouping’s funds via the export tax (DSPE) income, lead the board of directors to reduce its operational budget of the current year and to reconsider all its promotional activities plan on the whole of its markets. It brings the board to the following decisions:

• To concentrate all promotional means on three priority markets, which account for approximately 90% of Tahiti cultured pearls direct exportations and on which the GIE had built solid partnerships with well established associations of local professionals:

- In Japan, with the Tahiti Pearl Promotion Society of Japan (TPJ), a historical and faithful partner on a major market for its cultural approach of the pearl;

- In China, with the Tahitian pearl association of Hong Kong (TPHK), a new partner on one of the most offensive and most promising markets by the gigantism of its potential,

- In the United States, with the Cultured Pearl Association of America (CPAA), important association gathering more than forty US pearl trade companies, and which was created with both GIE Perles of Tahiti and US traders efforts.

• To suspend for a while, GIE’s promotional activities on other markets, for to set up according the pearl tax very low level of income the new scope of 2008 budget, to measure with precision the returns on investment of past operations, and especially to analyze the new markets emerging such as India, Dubai and the United Arab Emirates.

• To finalize the new marketing and promotional strategy for the GIE, with a well-adapted global communication policy, based on more operational orientation bound for the final customer, with the main objective of increasing our sales and our market shares.

• To reorganize for 2009, the team and new budget of Perles de Tahiti GIA, according to the new strategy and its operational approach, on the various selected markets according to criteria such as Tahiti pearls sales growth with regard to the evolutions to come from the pearls, the gems and the jewelry trade industry.

In Conclusion

The current crisis which French Polynesia industry is passing through might come out as a salutary but “necessary pain”, in so far as the process undertaken by the government to lay down all the problems in order to draw a global scheme for the process of reorganization of the local pearl industry will continue and find a consensus before the end of year 2008.

[pattye]

Jeremy,

Thanks much for keeping us updated----

[pearlescence]

There is a lot of self-justification and not a lot of explanation....and there is that bane of business, a consultant, getting in on the act.

[faye-holycity pearl]

thanks for the professional information.

[jshepherd]

Post just received from a pearl farmer in French Polynesia.

Il faut que tu saches que le gouvernement va enlever la taxe de 200fr sur le gramme.

The tax may be going bye-bye... I would wait for the official word before ordering discount pearls, however. It does not really jive with the current situation and these could just be rumors floating around the South Pacific.

Josh!
I see you on the board! What is the news behind the news?

[Josh]

Boy, leave it up to Pearl-Guide to tell you what's going on in your own neighborhood. Nice work Jeremy in building such a brilliant information conduit.

The word on the street is that the tax will be temporarily suspended which may just be a way to pass it softly.
People are very concerned though that as soon as it's lifted, there will be a massive dumping of commercial grade pearls. Local dealers will surely rejoice at being able to get their low-end stuff out of Tahiti for cheap. If or when this dumping happens prices will likely plummet again.
What concerns me though is that the benefit of the lifted tax will not trickle down to the farmer as it is supposed to. I could see buyers buying the commercial stuff even cheaper as a result of the lifting. It bugs me that immediately people are rubbing their hands about cheaper pearls when it's the farmers who actually NEED the money to continue producing pearls. I have only been back in Tahiti for a week but have already been shocked at the doom and gloom in the market. Many farms have ceased production altogether and those that haven't are cutting way back on their labor force. It's looking like Kamoka will weather the storm and continue with our annual quota despite hanging things up for all of next month. Anyone who is confined to sell all of their pearls on the local market (which is pretty much all of the small and medium farmers) is in very bad shape right now.
Merehau Anastas who wrote the above article is a friend and I don't mean to take anything away from her hard work. It seems a shame though that PDT has never called on the efforts of true professionals in the realm of marketing and branding. It doesn't take much of a consultant at all to see that leaving India off of a target list is in my opinion a very big mistake.

[jshepherd]

It seems a shame though that PDT has never called on the efforts of true professionals in the realm of marketing and branding. It doesn't take much of a consultant at all to see that leaving India off of a target list is in my opinion a very big mistake.

I completely agree with you, especially if this means the imminent release of the old stock that would never export (without a round-about trip to the Cooks). The Indian market would be the prime recipient as those are the goods that sell well there anyway.

Without the controls, isn't GIEPDT just setting themselves up for a repeat of the early 90s?

[Josh]

That's what I'm thinking. Pearls will still go through export control but the issue of the under the radar stuff really needs to be addressed.

[pearl-man]

Jeremy
thanks for the update.
Soon I'll get one from the CPAA

pearl-man

[Hanaleimom]

Here is the link to jckonline.com regarding PDT: http://www.jckonline.com/article/CA6...?desc=topstory

[Nerida]

Thanks for the link, Cathy. Interesting release, and also the mysterious Pearl Professor strikes again.... hmm now, maybe it is actually Jeremy in disguise??

[jshepherd]

LOL I wish I could help you out on that one. I still say it's Mikeyy!

[Nerida]

Good thought, but the writing style is different to that on Mikeyy's website... certainly someone who travels a bit..

[Nerida]

Definitely not you either, Jeremy. I just had a quick look at pearl-professor's website, and you are far too busy to have put that together as well as everything else you do!! Mikeyy? George V?