Rhona Conn. Growing value close to home.
Rhona Conn’s work connects rural producers, local processing and market opportunities.
More value for the people behind the produce.
Founded in 2018, Milne Bay Organics works with rural producers on branded products made from coconut, vanilla, coffee and cacao. Rhona’s own account lists her role as non-executive director. The business is also documented in TDi’s YuMi tourism programme, which explored sharing plant knowledge and local processing with visitors.
From local crops to finished products.
The collection on Milne Bay Organics’ own website brings the processing story into view: roasted coffee, virgin coconut oil, vanilla beans, vanilla paste and vanilla extract. Its stated approach is to work with rural producers on branded products for retail markets, with communities retaining a stronger connection to the value of their resources.
Explore the Milne Bay Organics collectionA business with community at its centre.
The business sets out a purpose that begins with villages, growers and families. Its published priorities include producer skills, resource ownership, fairer trade and access to wider markets. The photographs below show products, presentations and connections documented in Rhona’s own collection.
Read the business mission and journeyThe product collection
People, production & connections
Processing, knowledge and opportunity.
Coconut oil and coffee are part of a story that reaches beyond the finished product. TDi’s account of its YuMi programme describes Rhona bringing plant knowledge and processing into a visitor experience, connecting the work of local producers with the people learning about Milne Bay.
Her own account also describes a wider contribution to enterprise: founding president of the Milne Bay SME Association from 2019 to 2024, youth mentoring through Youth Leading Positive Change, and her work leading Otherdots. Together these offer several ways to understand her contribution: making products, supporting entrepreneurs and opening connections to markets.
Watch: the Milne Bay Organics story.
Published YuMi programme film, linked from TDi’s Milne Bay Organics account. Watch on Vimeo.
Source: Milne Bay Organics — own website. Reviewed 23 October 2026. Published information is attributed to its source. Confirm current services and commercial arrangements directly.
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