Sale of Fresh Kava in US?

[Kojo Douglas]

I don't expect fresh vine ripened home grown tomatoes in January. Maybe we can't have everything we want just because we want it, even if we throw money at it? Maybe things are better in context because then they are special? Why rob things of that which makes them special? Why not enjoy what we can when we can and not lament that which we cannot? Or is that my kava passivity speaking?

Kava isn't seasonal though. You can dig it up at any time of the year. Tomatoes have clearly defined growing seasons

Sorry, as someone who farmed for quite some time I get lost in the details.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

As I understand it the planting of kava is seasonal, though.

 

[Kojo Douglas]

Yes, most root crops have optimal planting times to encourage successful germination and healthy establishment.

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

I agree, and your last point is fair. I would certainly pay a premium to try fresh green kava. I got the cash and outside the unlikely event that I get back to Hawaii anytime soon I doubt I will get the chance to try it unless a vendor steps up. I am all for it! I can only imagine that the difference in taste is quite significant - like the first time you try a fresh squeezed fruit juice versus a concentrate.

Well, if you ever make it to the Big Island of Hawaii on the Hilo side, make sure you stop by and we will harvest a kava plant and make some fresh root to drink, then you can try it and see how it is.
Aloha.

Chris

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

Well, if you ever make it to the Big Island of Hawaii on the Hilo side, make sure you stop by and we will harvest a kava plant and make some fresh root to drink, then you can try it and see how it is.
Aloha.

Chris

See, that's what I'm talking about, having something really special to look forward to!

 

[kasa_balavu]

Hi @Kava Time,
I gave this quite a bit of thought some time ago and came to the conclusion that it wasn't feasible to do from Fiji at this time. The Hawaiians don't have Customs delays, their shipping rates and speeds are way better than ours, and they *still* can't make it work. It's also a perishable good so you won't get insurance and the risks are significant.

BTW I saw some pics of all the work Paradise Kava had to do to make his product... having to peel/scrape *every single root*. Fuck that man... it's a ridiculous amount of work and the risk of contamination looked to be *too damn high*.

It only becomes feasible if you acquire one of those multi-million dollar machines that'll sterilize the kava without heat to give your product significant shelf-life.

My advice: Forget about doing it from Fiji at this time. Spend a few years growing our business and consider it again in 5 or 10yrs when you're strong enough to take risks like this.

 

[kasa_balavu]

I found this pic on social media a couple of months ago but don't know anything else about it. Anyone here know whether it's from fresh kava or just regular reconstituted/pre-mixed kava?

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

I found this pic on social media a couple of months ago but don't know anything else about it. Anyone here know whether it's from fresh kava or just regular reconstituted/pre-mixed kava?

Nemo (the massive fresh kava maniac) tried it last year in Vanuatu. He was supposed to stay quiet about it at the time, cuz it hadn't been fully released yet. He wasn't a fan. I think he told me the method they use, but I can't recall. I think it had something to do with the methods they used for "Lava Cola".

 

[Kava Time]

I found this pic on social media a couple of months ago but don't know anything else about it. Anyone here know whether it's from fresh kava or just regular reconstituted/pre-mixed kava?

This one contains instant kava powder where you mix in water and it makes 3L of kava to drink. Yeah the frozen fresh kava doesnt seem to be a feasible option from Fiji. I have a solid plan for bottling but it requires an investment which is too much of a gamble to take at this stage of our business in retail export.

 

[ThePiper]

It really shouldn't be as hard as it is to get frozen Kava in the continental USA. We can easily get fresh raw (never frozen?) lamb meat here that comes in from Australia, so why not frozen Kava delivered to the ethnic foods section of the supermarket? It's so much easier and safer to transport than raw meat... Ah that would be so great to walk into the grocery store and see one of the freezers containing vacuum sealed fresh green kava bricks. Better yet pre-pulverized into yummy pulp with the largest makas removed already It may be possible in an inland part of the united States that has a large fijian/Vanuatu/tongan population... I mean every city has an Asian market with bizarre frozen sushi that can only possibly be produced on the other side of the earth...

 

[verticity]

It really shouldn't be as hard as it is to get frozen Kava in the continental USA. We can easily get fresh raw (never frozen?) lamb meat here that comes in from Australia, so why not frozen Kava delivered to the ethnic foods section of the supermarket? It's so much easier and safer to transport than raw meat... Ah that would be so great to walk into the grocery store and see one of the freezers containing vacuum sealed fresh green kava bricks. Better yet pre-pulverized into yummy pulp with the largest makas removed already It may be possible in an inland part of the united States that has a large fijian/Vanuatu/tongan population... I mean every city has an Asian market with bizarre frozen sushi that can only possibly be produced on the other side of the earth...

I think it's just a matter of demand. It is possible in principle to import fresh/frozen food from anywhere. There are Asian restaurants and supermarkets here in Colorado that import fresh fruit, fish, etc. directly from Asia, but there is also a significant market for that stuff. But the problem is, I think the demand for fresh kava would just be too small to make the kind of economies of scale possible that you would need to do that for any kind of price that people would be willing to pay. If there were such a thing as a kava supermarket, and you could do it on a wholesale basis, it might work. But otherwise you are talking about shipping frozen/refrigerated items to individual consumers, which is really expensive.

 

[Poivrier]

While processed, frozen products are tricky and have a very high technological cold chain to go trough, I think that just freshly harvested roots could easily travel, like fresh fruits.
Let's contemplate only the lawena part of the harvest (the stump), it should be easier to clean and to send, like a kind of fennel stump. Of course the buyer would have to cut and process the stump at home.

 

[Poivrier]

Or another way to have fresh kava outside the Pacific could be to make the fresh kava drink right on site, bottle it, sterilize it and send the bottled kava. Of course the taste would be different due to the sterilization process (heat).
Like Kasa_balavu said, it involves high costs for what is maybe a too little market but who knows in the future ?