Vanuatu kava after the storm

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Hi everyone, I am sure you all know that there was a big cyclone that hit Vanuatu and it destroyed a major portion of Vanuatu. By estimation over 90% of the structures are destroyed. The kava plants are destroyed and a few lives were lost. This is a bad time for Vanuatu but in time they will recover.
The situation with the kava is not new, this has happened in Fiji and more recently in Samoa. The storm in Samoa destroyed there kava too.
Now since there is so much kava in Vanuatu that has been damaged or destroyed they will be harvesting it all to try to make some money and not loose all the effort and care they put into the kava. That being said there is a good chance that the quality of the kava will drop because of young plants being harvested and the fact that there is going to be so many kava plants they are going to try to process that some of it will rot and spoil before it can be processed, this is what happened in Fiji and Samoa.

It will take a few years before the kava gets back to normal in Vanuatu and that will put a strain on all the other kava producing areas.
For example we know that Fiji gets over half of there kava from Vanuatu so that means they will not be able to get it now so they will be keeping there kava to drink instead of selling it. Please be assured that I have a very good supply of Hawaiian kava on my farm and will have plenty of kava in this upcoming kava shortage, I also have a good supply of Fijian kava and Vanuatu kava still on hand. Let us all hope that this kava situation in Vanuatu does not last long and that they are back up and running in no time at all.
I have talked to a few kava suppliers in Vanuatu and they both say the same thing, destruction, the kava market is unsure right now in Vanuatu, they are still assessing the situation, we will get more news in the days to come.
Also I was able to find out that Dr. Lebot and his family is doing fine, there house was damaged but still standing so that is good.
Aloha to all.

Chris

 

[verticity]

Chris, would you consider putting a link or button on your web site for people who want to donate to the relief effort in Vanuatu?

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Chris, would you consider putting a link or button on your web site for people who want to donate to the relief effort in Vanuatu?

Yes I can do that, do you have the HTML for me to put on my site for the button?
Aloha.

Chris

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

@Gourmet Hawaiian Kava

Chris: Do winds like this typically uproot the entire plant, or just remove the above ground portions? Will there be a shortage of cuttings to replant?

The winds like that will break off all the stalks, the stump and roots are still there but if you do not harvest it because of all the damage the stump of the kava will start to rot. So all the islanders know that so they will be trying to get all the kava processed before it rots, then the flavor and smell of the kava will be very very bad. The young plants that are not mature enough to harvest will also be used so the quality of the kavalactone content will go down because of the young plants.
They will be able to use the stalks and replant the kava so that is not a problem, it will just take time to do all of this.
I got an email from one of my suppliers in Vanuatu. They are all taking turns on a satellite system they have at the top of a small mountain, they are using this go get information out to loved ones and other people. The thing that got me was that the price of the kava went up already. What I used to pay $17 per Kilo I now pay $37 per Kilo. I bought the rest of his supply so I know it is still from before the storm, that was like 600 pounds of Noble Vanuatu kava.
Aloha.

Chris

 

[verticity]

Yes I can do that, do you have the HTML for me to put on my site for the button?
Aloha.

Chris

OK, I sent some example HTML to your msn email address, because I don't think it is possible to post HTML code on the forum.

 

[kavadude]

It's possible. Click the insert button and then code. I'd recommend using something like http://jsfiddle.net though, live preview and more features.

Chris, would you recommend buying Vanuatu kava over the next few months at all? (I mean aside from what you stocked up on).

 

[verticity]

<div style="background-color:#FF1E36;color:#fff;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;width:100%;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:1.5rem;text-align:center;padding:5px" >
    <h2>Emergency: Cyclone Pam</h2>
    <p>Cyclone Pam tore through the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, leaving massive destruction in its wake. Oxfam is on the ground, helping victims as they recover from this disaster.</p>
    <a href="https://secure2.oxfamamerica.org/page/content/donate-cyclone-pam-vanuatu/" style="display:inline-block;background-color:#E70153;color:#fff;padding:10px;text-decoration:none;border:solid #999 1px">Donate now</a>
</div>

 

[verticity]

Hey it worked.

 

[verticity]

Chris, would you recommend buying Vanuatu kava over the next few months at all? (I mean aside from what you stocked up on).

I don't know, the quality might be lower and the price higher, but it could help the people there to keep buying.

 

[Steve Mariotti]

Yeah, it does seem like creating a demand will help get money into the local economy, at least.

 

[Steve Mariotti]

Hopefully Vanuatu's Noble Certification is still capable of work. I hope their labs weren't wiped out, yeah?

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Chris, would you recommend buying Vanuatu kava over the next few months at all? (I mean aside from what you stocked up on).

I would say that it will be okay to keep buying the kava from Vanuatu but vendors like me and the others will need to take extra steps to make sure we are getting good kava. The HPLC and all the other tests will tell us all we need to know.
If they use a lot of the young plants the kavalactone content will be real low, the smell of the kava will tell me if there was any rotten kava in there so I would not worry as long as your getting it from a good vendor.
Also it will take about 2-4 years for the kava to recover, the kava scene will be different for a while. But this will depend on how many kava plants were totally destroyed. the thing is that even though the plant is still in the ground, with all the stalks damaged or ripped from the plant, the rot will start and spread through the plant and it will dye, that is why they will be trying to process all the kava they can before it rots.
Aloha nui loa.

Chris

 

[kavadude]

I agree the local economy needs the money, but we have to keep a very sharp eye on quality. It would actually hurt the economy in the long run if kava was implicated in an "adverse health event", and it could easily happen in these circumstances.

This is my main concern. Microbial contamination.