Our Farmers
Root and Pestle sources all its kava from traditional kava farmers (we don’t compete and grow our own). Kava is not only the cultural pilar or Vanuatu it is also makes up almost three quarters of Vanuatu’s export commodities, financially supporting an estimated 40,000 households across the Island Nation. Therefore, in support of the local community and economy we value working alongside the farmers as opposed to working independently.
Traditional kava grown in Vanuatu
Root & Pestle are proud to be working with in excess of a thousand kava farmers scattered throughout the Vanuatu Archipelago, with the key purchasing regions being Santo, Epi, Pentecost and Banks Islands. Our aim, when working alongside local farmers, is to improve quality control practices around the harvesting and transportation of the raw product while continuing to learn about kava from its traditional growers. All our farmers are encouraged to harvest noble kava plants four years and older to ensure consistent quality and optimum kavalactone content. We also match supply with demand, so our kava is delivered, processed and packaged within 24hrs of harvest to lock in freshness and taste.
Growing quality kava
Root & Pestle work together with well over a thousand kava growers scattered throughout the Vanuatu islands (the main suppliers being Pentecost, Santo, Malekula and Banks Islands). We exclusively purchase our Kava from the surrounding Vanuatu Islands of Pentecost, Malekula, Santo, Ambrym, and Ambae Epi. Not only is Root & Pestle Vanuatu’s biggest kava buyer, it is also Vanuatu’s biggest contributor in terms of total kava exports. To put this in perspective, for 2018 the value of kava exports from Vanuatu totalled over 2.5 billion vatu.
