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Forum News New vendor organization.

The Kap'n

The Groggy Kaptain (40g)
KavaForums Founder
Hi Kava lovers. We're getting a bit crowded on the front page in terms of the sheer amounts of vendors we have on board now. Not to mention I'm about to add two more. I've been trying to come up with a way of grouping the vendors in a fair and non-exclusive way. About the most fair option I can think of is company age. I'm thinking it's the metric that the least amount of vendors would have issue with.

Here's my plan to group vendors:

Group 1: 10-30 Years Old
Group 2: 5-9 Years Old
Group 3: 0-4 Years Old

Vendor NameMonths in BuisnessYears
Gourmet Hawiian Kava (Confirmed with Vendor)
360​
30.0​
Real Kava (Confirmed with Vendor)
300​
25.0​
Nakamal At Home (Confirmed with Vendor)
217​
18.1​
Root of Happiness (Confirmed with Vendor)
156​
13​
Ozia (Confirmed with Vendor)
144​
12.0​
FijiMarket (Website Age)
120​
12.0​
Wakacon (Website Age)
116​
9.7​
Bula Kava House (Confirmed with Vendor)
108​
9.0​
Kalm with Kava (Confirmed with Vendor)
108​
9.0​
Kava Society NZ (Confirmed with Vendor)
108​
9.0​
Kavafied (Confirmed with Vendor)
72​
6.0​
MyJadesa (Website Age)
68​
5.7​
TheKavaRoots (Website Age)
65​
5.4​
Cactus Kava (Website Age)
64​
5.3​
Squanch Kava (Website Age)
55​
4.6​
Kava Vinaka (Website Age)
53​
4.4​
Kava Time (Website Age)
51​
4.3​
Kava Depot (Website Age)
51​
4.3​
Kava Mama (Website Age)
41​
3.4​
Best Fiji Kava (Business Incorporation)
36​
3.0​
Fiji Fresh Kava (Website Age)
27​
2.3​
Ofa's Kava (Website Age)
6​
0.5​
Art of Kava (Website Age)
5​
0.4​
Fiji Vanua Kava (Website Age)
5​
0.4​

This will free a massive amount of space up on the front page. Be looking for my changes soon :)

Bula!
 
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hightides42

our Roots run deep
age seems a good metric, maybe divided to primary source, e.g. Hawaiian 'awa, Fijian, Vanuatu, etc would be another option?

also had idea, not related to grouping but something for all vendors as forum members decide and that is on testing. I imagine vendors representing themselves here do (or should!) pay something in sponsorship to the forums. add to that some revenue from the KF swag sale profits for a monthly members chosen cultivar that we sponsor getting sent to lab and post test results here for all to see. may help fill in some of those missing chemotypes on the spreadsheet and for those reporting something it will verify vendor is reporting same as what is actually received by customers.

of course this idea becomes more bad the less this forum / server actually pays for itself:banghead:
 

The Kap'n

The Groggy Kaptain (40g)
KavaForums Founder
age seems a good metric, maybe divided to primary source, e.g. Hawaiian 'awa, Fijian, Vanuatu, etc would be another option?

also had idea, not related to grouping but something for all vendors as forum members decide and that is on testing. I imagine vendors representing themselves here do (or should!) pay something in sponsorship to the forums. add to that some revenue from the KF swag sale profits for a monthly members chosen cultivar that we sponsor getting sent to lab and post test results here for all to see. may help fill in some of those missing chemotypes on the spreadsheet and for those reporting something it will verify vendor is reporting same as what is actually received by customers.

of course this idea becomes more bad the less this forum / server actually pays for itself:banghead:
I started out with the source countries, but so many vendors carry kavas from different locations, so some would fall into every group, while others would only fall into 1 or 2.

Vendors on kavaforums pay nothing. Sounds strange, but this all started out as my hobby. Kava found me when I needed it the most. I feel it is my duty to provide that opportunity for as many people as possible. As such I believe in inclusivity over exclusivity.

This website is here to pay homage to the root that saved my life. I personally believe the only way to keep something this awesome is to give it away for free, hence Kavaforums :)

In terms of getting vendor samples, and testing them ourselves, we've gone down that road in a way. It leaves too many questions about the sample, it's origin, and our motivations. While we can address that situation without biases, it doesn't always come across that way, especially if we had gotten back a negative result.
 

The Kap'n

The Groggy Kaptain (40g)
KavaForums Founder
Sounds like an interesting idea, but you better change @Gourmet Hawaiian Kava 's 4 years to something much higher! Chris has been in business for much longer!
These are tentative. I'm going back to each vendor to confirm. That 4 years is based on his incorporation date, which I suspect to be...well..wrong. Thinking more around the 10 year mark because he was with us in 2014 and I know he was a vendor prior to meeting us.
 

Hightide

Kava Enthusiast
Sounds fair. I think its good that you mention the new vendors in a separate post too, it gives a chance for them to get noticed
 

hightides42

our Roots run deep
very honorable, much respect Kap'm! i read your recently shared journey from alcohol to kava and saw myself in that, last year this time, stepping fast away from my alcohol struggle.

do vendors not pay for the banner ads either?

i'm not a busynessman but do believe any business selling product or service does budget for advertising and having a specialty forum doing it for free, even giving specific special space for what is basically all PR and customer service just seems to me to be taking big advantage of your kind and generous kava passionate heart. idk...
is reddit is similarly free for all vendors? if so they must be like FacadeBook in that the users are the product being sold for (big) profit. i mean, other than word of mouth, and customers paying vendors to become walking advertisement billboards by buying and wearing / displaying and gifting vendor swag where do they get to spend ad budgetted dollars? this is the best word of mouth thing going not lost in the modern usenet of dancing elephants known as reddit and, imnsho, shame on them for not belaboring the point with you to accept some real compensation.

Add to that your spreadsheet work, double downed dirty business...

on the testing, bah humbug if vendor has a beef with the results, it is what a bag opened by customer is actually drinking. they should be ecstatic with appreciation for the free test (added to free advertising and PR/CS space provided!) because i don't believe any(/many?) test every batch and i think that is a disservice to all of us, including amongst themselves as peers/competitors.
and sometimes it would really be a nice vouchsafe when a brand's cultivar is suddenly reported by more than one to be 'off' or significantly different, as was the case with KWK borogu (iirc) recently.
do you know the cost of a full spectrum lab test? maybe an opt in required from vendors to participate in the member choice testing and if they have true knowledge, and pride, in their products i can't imagine any less than full support from all of them with board space here for such a customer assurance and satisfaction initiative. to the point of putting their money where their mouth is and pitch in for such a customer led testing.
 

Gourmet Hawaiian Kava

Kava Expert
Kava Vendor
lol 33 years in the kava industry. He just confirmed. Started in 1987. I was just a few off!
Now I feel OLD. o_O I guess that means it's time to drink more kava. ;) I remember back in those days I used to sell a lot of fresh kava to East Earth Herbs and other companies.
Searching every Valley in hopes of finding a new variety of 'Awa. Tracking down this one guy I heard about who collects Hawaiian 'awa down in Paukaa. @Alia That was Alia Point 'Awa Nursery. Those were good days for sure. Aloha.

Chris
 
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hightides42

our Roots run deep
i cannot help but wonder what life path i'd be on now had i found GHK in 87, joined the army in 86 with my first duty station at Schofield Barracks, HI for 7yrs straight (even returned for 3 more beautiful years there 95-98)..

quite sure the world would look completly different had i experienced the wonder of Hawaiian 'Awa back then. lol, and a big big sigh... at least the root found me in time~
 

The Kap'n

The Groggy Kaptain (40g)
KavaForums Founder
do vendors not pay for the banner ads either?
They don't actually. When we decide a vendor has the appropriate integrity and ability we add them to our banner. In fact, they don't even have a choice, lol.


i'm not a busynessman but do believe any business selling product or service does budget for advertising and having a specialty forum doing it for free, even giving specific special space for what is basically all PR and customer service just seems to me to be taking big advantage of your kind and generous kava passionate heart. idk...
is reddit is similarly free for all vendors? if so they must be like FacadeBook in that the users are the product being sold for (big) profit. i mean, other than word of mouth, and customers paying vendors to become walking advertisement billboards by buying and wearing / displaying and gifting vendor swag where do they get to spend ad budgetted dollars? this is the best word of mouth thing going not lost in the modern usenet of dancing elephants known as reddit and, imnsho, shame on them for not belaboring the point with you to accept some real compensation.
Reddit is also free to vendors, and you're right. If the service is free you're usually the product. The only exception would be here on KF. We answer to no big platforms and can do whatever we want as it's ours. Nobody breathing down our necks. I keep my user list under lock and key. I don't sell or release any user data, and everyone here owns the copyright to their own submitted material. Kavaforums is a peek into the world of my obsessive hobby, and in order to keep it straight in my own head it needs to be free and freely available for anyone to come in and interact.


on the testing, bah humbug if vendor has a beef with the results, it is what a bag opened by customer is actually drinking. they should be ecstatic with appreciation for the free test (added to free advertising and PR/CS space provided!) because i don't believe any(/many?) test every batch and i think that is a disservice to all of us, including amongst themselves as peers/competitors.
and sometimes it would really be a nice vouchsafe when a brand's cultivar is suddenly reported by more than one to be 'off' or significantly different, as was the case with KWK borogu (iirc) recently.
do you know the cost of a full spectrum lab test? maybe an opt in required from vendors to participate in the member choice testing and if they have true knowledge, and pride, in their products i can't imagine any less than full support from all of them with board space here for such a customer assurance and satisfaction initiative. to the point of putting their money where their mouth is and pitch in for such a customer led testing.
I know it sounds like a good idea, but there are so many variables that can cause that scenario to go south. It's $400 per test.
 

hightides42

our Roots run deep
i trust you're not selling us out. i still find it very distasteful that vendors don't compensate you directly for the forum space provided.

and $400 is a big bite to chew for us consumers, prohibitive for forums to sponsor such without some revenue.

but now I'm even more curious what an average batch/lot is in weight. if say 1000lbs or so then $400 is peanuts (especially with all the advertising dollars saved!

but I'll let it go.
and rest my case...
for now.... ;)
 

_byron

Kava Enthusiast
Is there anyway to have it so the vendors with recent replies show up first and vendors with little or no discussion fall to the bottom?
 

The Kap'n

The Groggy Kaptain (40g)
KavaForums Founder
i trust you're not selling us out. i still find it very distasteful that vendors don't compensate you directly for the forum space provided.

and $400 is a big bite to chew for us consumers, prohibitive for forums to sponsor such without some revenue.

but now I'm even more curious what an average batch/lot is in weight. if say 1000lbs or so then $400 is peanuts (especially with all the advertising dollars saved!

but I'll let it go.
and rest my case...
for now.... ;)
Don't get too mad :)

In the past we had a "donation" box that anyone could donate to, and vendors often did donate. My financial situation has changed since I first created kavaforums, and it is no longer any extra strain to my budget. I love this website, and it's a pleasure to provide it.
 

The Kap'n

The Groggy Kaptain (40g)
KavaForums Founder
Is there anyway to have it so the vendors with recent replies show up first and vendors with little or no discussion fall to the bottom?
That would require an addon which I will look for over thanksgiving weekend. I honestly like that solution more. It would reward the vendors which interact with kavaforums.

Cant it just be sub menu with vendors so it does not fill up the front page of the forum.
Also will look into this :)
 

verticity

I'm interested in things
Organizing by time in business does have the advantage of being impartial.

On the other hand, from the perspective of someone who wants to quickly find the forum for a specific vendor by name it could make that a little trickier. For example, what if I want to look up Wakacon, but I have no idea that they have been in business slightly less than a decade? I guess you could list the vendor names with the year groupings, but you would still have to scan the whole page to find what you are looking for.

My alternative suggestion would be alphabetical groups by name. Maybe something like A-J, the letter K by itself, L-Z...

Whatever you do I want to thank you for all the work you do maintaining this site as a great free resource for the kava community, Kap'm!
 

AlexisReal

Kava Enthusiast
Organizing by time in business does have the advantage of being impartial.

On the other hand, from the perspective of someone who wants to quickly find the forum for a specific vendor by name it could make that a little trickier. For example, what if I want to look up Wakacon, but I have no idea that they have been in business slightly less than a decade? I guess you could list the vendor names with the year groupings, but you would still have to scan the whole page to find what you are looking for.

My alternative suggestion would be alphabetical groups by name. Maybe something like A-J, the letter K by itself, L-Z...

Whatever you do I want to thank you for all the work you do maintaining this site as a great free resource for the kava community, Kap'm!
As long as one is aware of the existence of this thread and list, and how to easily find it, I don't see much difficulty in quickly obtaining any useful info.

And regardless, if we were to calculate some sort of mean figure, for the popularity and kava quality of each Vendor, I genuinely don't think we would see much trend, if any, towards longer established retailers and that higher mean rating.

I mean look at Artofkava, 2nd bottom. No way inferior in any way, IMO, to any and all other vendors I have had great experience with, just as an example.

But I can also appreciate how the information might be useful for other particular reasons.

Great work again @Kapmcrunk have an enjoyable thanksgiving I wish.
 

The Kap'n

The Groggy Kaptain (40g)
KavaForums Founder
Organizing by time in business does have the advantage of being impartial.

On the other hand, from the perspective of someone who wants to quickly find the forum for a specific vendor by name it could make that a little trickier. For example, what if I want to look up Wakacon, but I have no idea that they have been in business slightly less than a decade? I guess you could list the vendor names with the year groupings, but you would still have to scan the whole page to find what you are looking for.

My alternative suggestion would be alphabetical groups by name. Maybe something like A-J, the letter K by itself, L-Z...

Whatever you do I want to thank you for all the work you do maintaining this site as a great free resource for the kava community, Kap'm!
Excellent point, and I always want to approach this as if I were someone visiting for the first time. Thanks for that. :)
 
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