Public sale of coco-de-mer |07 September 2020

The coco-de-mer sale at the Botanical Garden on Saturday

Many Seychellois now proud owners of our ‘national nut’

The public in general had an opportune moment last Saturday to finally own the precious coco-de-mer. A first ever public sale of coco-de-mer nuts was organised at the Botanical Garden by the Seychelles National Parks Authority (SNPA) in order to allow the people to purchase this rare and endemic nut.

Speaking to our journalist, Selby Remy, chief executive of the SNPA, noted that “usually the tourists are the main buyers of the coco-de-mer nuts and now due to Covid-19 pandemic, it has negatively affected our revenue and the sale is a means of revenue for us. The second reason is also for SNPA to raise some funds to be able to operate”.

How are the prices of the nuts determined? Mr Remy said that “it’s the nature who decide on the price by giving us different forms of the coco-de-mer. We have noticed that people love to have a specific type of coco-de-mer which are shaped properly. These ones are sold at a higher price. Our staff know better on the state of the nut and then fix the price.

There were approximately 100 nuts on sale. The prices ranged from R500 to R4000. The sale was supposed to start at 9.30am but people were already there before nine waiting to get one of our national souvenirs.

Normally SNPA sells coco-de-mer at their office and after this first successful sale, they will decide on whether to have a second one or not.

Vidya Gappy