The precise gardens selection
Our company is based on the beautful island of Espiritu Santo - Vanuatu and has a precise action perimeter regarding kava harvest. Indeed, kava quality varies a lot depending of its location, its varieties, the climate, its age and the attention you give to these wonderful roots.
Following our research done these last years and the result of well-known kava scientists, PSL is operating on a special area within Vanuatu.
The gardens we are using have shown some higher kavalactone content (implying better effects) inside their kava varieties compared to many other places.
We are working to get the highest kava quality, it is why we have selected these gardens located deep in the bush, in the heart of the beautiful island of Espiritu Santo.
Our High-quality Noble kava
Our kava varieties
We provide high-quality Noble single cultivars (or a variety mix) such as :
- Melomelo,
- Borogu,
- Palasa,
- Bir kar,
- Palarasul.
Our kava are tested by the Bio-security of Vanuatu and certified High Quality Noble.
Gardens varieties composition are not proportional currently. Melomelo and Borogu are found in bigger quantities within the local gardens compared to the other Noble varieties we offer. Indeed, farmers are used to plant back these both varieties always in bigger quantities as they use harvested kava cuttings from their gardens.
This tends to reduce the proportion of the other varieties inside the local gardens. Also, others varieties are usually not sold and kept for the farmers' community consumption.
Since years, farmers has adapted their gardens to the export market that were not really making differences between Noble varieties and were considering only few of them.
We are working with our partners to diversify back again in better proportion varieties within gardens.
Our quality process
Our process depends on the type of kava we are preparing. Green & Fresh kava doesn't have the same preparation as Dry kava.
Our quality process remains the same. We always visit and check the gardens ahead of harvesting any kava and plan an harvesting day with the local farmers.
Once the day comes, we assist the farmer in harvesting the kava following the company requirements. Our team select the kava plants in gardens during the harvest to ensure we get the best product available.
We work on the kava quality instead of quantity!
Our team presence in the gardens ensure Noble upper kava plants quality for each of our varieties during the harvest. Contrary to others we do not wait for farmers to deliver their kava to our dock which affects the traceability of the product. We make a rule to devote our time to secure the quality of our kava. Our gardens are in remote central bush of Santo, 2 hours of rough drive from town, worth the trouble given the quality of our kava.
All our kava are cleaned and peeled through a UV high pressure water system in order to make a proper kava cleaning. Our quality product will always remain our first concerns!
Our Kava forms
Pacific Santo Limited offer 2 different kava forms:
- "Cooler Than Fresh", Green & Fresh Kava, it is the traditional way to drink kava in Vanuatu. This kava preparation results in a fresh kava mince from the green kava, frozen for sanitary requirements.
Currently, we provide our Cooler Than Fresh to the wholesale market with a minimum order of 20 kg to ensure the kava to stay frozen during transportation. We are working on opening the private market pretty soon regarding the Green kava form. We will receive the efficient packaging within the next weeks.
- Dry kava, the form mostly known on the International market. Our dry kava can be found under powder or just dried Lateral / Basal roots usually asked on the wholesale market.
Our partnerships
For the first time ever a company as ours has opened a partnership with a rural community in the heart of Santo bush.
This area has been identified through scientific studies as the " terroir " of highest kavalactone content.
We have extended our partnership to nearby communities at the request of the customs chiefs as we implement fair trade practice by providing material and facilities to improve harvesting and post harvesting practices.
One of the pictures shows the tribal chiefs of the area doing the kava custom drinking all together to open kava session on a particular day.
We are pleased to assist the communities offering them advantageous partnerships, taking part in their daily life needs and sharing all together time, kava experiences and traditions. This is considered as a privilege by our team.