Kava Research Kava Quality Regulation, FINALLY!

[Andrew Procyk]

Ground-breaking news:

The Kava Act has been part of Vanuatu "law" since 2002, but there has been no enforcement mechanism or particular standards to enforce. Finally, there is a draft regulation being developed that will create specific standards for producers, processors, and exporters, as well as specify penalties for those in violation of the stipulations of the act.

Among what look to be the requirements:

*Farmers are to list the kava variety, planting and harvest date (to make sure it meets the 3-year age for the domestic market, 5 year for the export market) village of origin, cultivar type, etc. and provide that information to the exporter, who must convey it to the buyer openly and honestly.
*Fines of up to 1,000,000 Vatu for violations, and/or 6 months in prison, including fines for selling two-day and wichmanii kava, or for mixing other non-drinking kavas in a bag with noble types to increase weight.
*No use of fertilizers and testing to ensure purity and organic growing methods (So Ah-HA to the fellow who said we use kava grown with fertilizers. NOBODY who gets Vanuatu kava is likely to have ANY fertilizers on their crop! Another video on that soon...)

This is by no means a complete and/or accurate representation of what is in the works, which is pages long, but as soon as the full text is available for review, you can bet I will post it! Basically, appellation of origin of all kava types must follow the stock from the grower, to the processor, to the exporter, and be traceable back to the village of origin and the farmer responsible for cultivation. This is not yet law, but hopefully, it will be soon! I for one am VERY excited about it.

I have long suspected that many exporters and/or processors have mislabeled kava to make it appear that they have a variety that is more rare than that which they are actually selling, noble or not, or "spiked" noble kavas with other types. My suspicion is particularly raised with the color of many tinctures on the market presenting with the "wrong" color. It is easy to get an NIRA and have the most prevalent lactone show up as kavain. It is entirely possible to mix 1/2 tudei and 1/2 noble, and wind up with a high kavain test that contains the soluble solids found in varieties not recommended for drink.

This will make kava much the same as Scotch Whisky, Prosciutto Di Parma, Jamon Iberico, etc. You know that variety X came from village Y, and violators will be held to task. Frankly, everyone who sells Vanuatu kava should be totally stoked with this development. There is still no differentiation as far as lateral roots vs. stump root, like in Fiji (waka, lewena) but it appears an outstanding first step towards regulation of the trade. In some ways, it goes further than the Fiji method. It is particularly important if we are to move to get kava registered as a safe food, which in my opinion, it is, and would mark a great step forward for all of us.

Having more trust in my suppliers and home village than most, I am ready to do cartwheels! If there is anything that we can do to advocate for passage, I will absolutely be on it and keep you informed. Thanks again for listening to my long-winded ranting about technocratic stuff, and I will check back on this as soon as I have more news! Hopefully, they will also specify penalties for buyers/processors who try to short-change growers and buy at rates below those specified by the VCMB - which is probably a big contributor to some growers mixing in non-noble kavas with drinkable types. So, cheers to everyone who buys legit kava from reputable suppliers!

Now, let's ROLL with it! ;-) Woo-hoo!

Remember, "A rising tide lifts all ships." What is good for your kava business is probably good for mine! So some of you FL folks that watch from the sidelines - don't hate - celebrate!

Alez!
Very Truly,
Iahi (Andrew)

 

[infraredz]

This is really good news. I've actually wondered about the "spiking" you mentioned for a while now, though I've never anything since there's no evidence anyone would/could do that. That being said, from a financial standpoint, why wouldn't they? Tudei seems to grow quicker, be hardier and more potent allowing for a perfect cash crop. I think I had the idea as I was adding 1tablespoon on Koniak to 7 of Melo Melo and thinking, why wouldn't the exporters (not vendors, although I guess it's possible) do the same thing to cheaply increase potency.

I'm curious about this:
"My suspicion is particularly raised with the color of many tinctures on the market presenting with the "wrong" color. It is easy to get an NIRA and have the most prevalent lactone show up as kavain. It is entirely possible to mix 1/2 tudei and 1/2 noble, and wind up with a high kavain test that contains the soluble solids found in varieties not recommended for drink."

Have you or Lebot seen any evidence of that happening?

I agree with you and Deleted User that this is really great news for the kava industry, but more importantly, for the future of kava. If we can establish these sorts of regulations before it's on the scope of any alphabet agency, I think we stand a much better chance.

 

[Crunked]

Excellent news! It's a win all around. Growers get to feel pride and possibly charge a premium for their product (as distinct from no name products like those found in a supermarket); distributors will have records of sources and will get to know what is popular; consumers will have much more choice and confidence in the product; and some of the stigma associated with kava will be removed.

 

[Andrew Procyk]

Frankly, it is something we have been looking forward to for quite some time! The final may be different from the draft, but I hope - at least - there is some appellation of origin and cultivar type required. This will keep vendors from selling the lateral roots vs. a lateral-stump blend vs. the stump from the same plant, and calling it 3 different varieties of cultivar. Similarly, the same plant grown on a couple different islands will have to be ID'd as the same plant, despite different origins.
I'm REALLY hoping this moves us in the direction of classifying kava as a safe food. Of course, it is important to #1 - Get the HP-TLC machine working to verify these claims, and #2 - get similar standards applied to ALL kava producing nations, not just Vanuatu. I believe that Hawaii is the biggest issue, as they grow the heck out of Isa, and since the plant does not cross national boundaries, it is not subject to any customs or other inspections. But... a step at a time, and we will get to our goal. Meanwhile - haters gonna hate! ;-)
Thanks for your support!
Never been so stoked about "intrusive government regulation" before!
~Iahi (Andrew)

 

[Steve]

Andrew -thanks for the update my friend. This is a great step forward. Hope they can pull it off

 

[Paradise Kava]

Most Excellent!

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Hi Deleted User, thanks for the links, that is great information but I wanted to make one thing known. In the stories in these links it says in all of them that the Isa came to Hawaii and escaped the lab and got into the farmers hands. Well that is debatable, it did not escape and that is all I will say about that. What disturbs me is that in all the articles they say that Isa is now one of Hawaii's most widely grown kava, this is simple just not true, there is more Hawaiian kava being grown than there is the Isa. There is even farms that were growing Isa that have let there fields go and the Isa is dying off, they can not sell it anymore, most people know that it is NOT a kava to be used for drinking and if they think it is let them try the sister of Isa, called Iwi. If they drank Iwi I can guarantee they will never touch a tudei kava again. It will give them all the unwanted effects that you hear about in a tudei kava, it is much stronger than the Isa.

There are a few that still sell Isa and so there will be those few that also grow it but I would bet I know over 90% of the kava farmers and I know that there are more Hawaiian plants than there are Isa.
I hate it when they say that Isa is grown in Hawaii more so than the other Hawaiian varieties when it is not.
Even in Vanuatu the people that planted the Tudei kava is now planting noble kava, this is because there main buyer is out of business so they have no sure fire way to sell there tudei kava. Most kava processors there will not sell it, at least the largest ones will not and they take considerable steps to ensure that they get noble kava, like buying only fresh root because the tudei kava is easily seen when it is still fresh, they also pay more to the farmers so that they will sell only noble kava, they also buy from only certain regions, regions that do not grow the tudei kava.

My supplier in Vanuatu is the largest supplier there and he has seen the drop in the amount of people planting the tudei kava, this is a good thing, this is also what is happening to the Isa in Hawaii. The less people that buy it means the less people will plant it. After all I think most of the kava drinkers drink the noble kava, very few seem to be able to handle the tudei kava.
A lot of people look for studies that say tudei kava is bad but that is not the point, the point is that traditionally the tudei kava was not used for drinking, it was ONLY used for ceremony and medicinal. That is 3000 years of studies that made the people in Vanuatu know that it is better to drink noble kava. That is enough for me, why risk it when you can get a great kava drink from the noble kava, if you don't think so them talk to me and I will send you a sample of my best Hawaiian kava, I do not sell it, I only keep it for me to drink but it will show you how strong and potent noble kava can be, just without the unwanted effects from the tudei kava.


I may be stepping on some toes by saying these things against the tudei kava but I suspect that it will only be the toes of the ones that are looking to make money from it, at the possible expense of the ones drinking it. But that is there business, it is my business to show that it is not the way to go. Aloha nui loa.

Chris

 

[NZdude]

That is enough for me, why risk it when you can get a great kava drink from the noble kava, if you don't think so them talk to me and I will send you a sample of my best Hawaiian kava, I do not sell it, I only keep it for me to drink but it will show you how strong and potent noble kava can be, just without the unwanted effects from the tudei kava.

I'd like to try a sample of that if you haven't already sent off my sample pack Out of interest, why don't you commercially sell your best strongest kava?

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Hi NZdude, I will make sure you get a sample, I do not sell it because I do not have enough of it, it is my rarest kava, Hankapi Ai and it is 100% lateral root, the stuff is strong so be careful.
Aloha.

Chris

 

[NZdude]

Hi NZdude, I will make sure you get a sample, I do not sell it because I do not have enough of it, it is my rarest kava, Hankapi Ai and it is 100% lateral root, the stuff is strong so be careful.
Aloha.

Chris

Thanks Chris - I look forward to receiving it soon, and hopefully NZ customs will be nice like they have been to others recently.