Im not so sure about tudei but i can tell you that people do use peelings and the branches of the kava plants to cut their costs or make more profit from wholesalers. Stuff that shouldnt be used. But ive never seen or heard anyone using leaves or tudei kava - telling from what i have heard and seen coming to our 20+yr old family kava processing facility in Nadi. Not sure about the other places though.Yes there is! I know a kava guru who swears it's true!
Personally i think that why some fijian kava maybe bad is because it is processed semi dry so it gets a funky smell to it and mouldy or its mixed with peelings and branches which are actually a health concern. Right now most exporters who also have importing license are importing vanuatu kava, mixing with fiji kava and repackaging under fijian label which has prompted a response by government to develop a kava bill to control this problem because they feel that fiji kava is better in quality and we are ruining our name in the kava export industry by doing such. Exporters are doing this because its cheaper to import vanuatu kava than to buy fiji kava locally because of the supposed shortage.
Personally for me i havent had any issue in sourcing kava from my farmers. Maybe because my savusavu farmer has a massive sustainable farm and sells to only 5 or 6 selected businesses and the kadavu one is a communal village farm which wasnt affected at all by the cyclone and the main coordinator of the village just sells to 1 other person right now besides me so i guess im lucky in that way.
