Prime Foods in Rarotonga is reporting an increase in demand for meat, produce, and dry goods as the 52nd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting begins today, and the festive season nears.

Supermarket managing director, Daniel Forsyth, said they have been building stock levels in anticipation of the Forum and the festive season.

“Orders have started to increase from Monday. Orders specifically for the Forum should further increase from end of the week through to next week onwards,” he told Cook Islands News last week.

Forsyth said that many customers are accumulating stock not just for the Forum but for the festive season too.

He said that resorts are reporting that tourist numbers are still on a high, with most still having more than 60 per cent occupancy and some at full capacity.

However, Forsyth also noted that the timing of shipping schedules and accounting for shipping delays is a major factor at this time.

“There are many other islands competing for shipping space and volume this time of the year so we always prepare ourselves for this by ordering early and stockpiling core items,” he said.