Welcome to Capital Kava
Home of Australia’s finest kava, direct from Vanuatu
Meet the Family!
Capital Kava is a family run business. Capital Kava buys its kava powder from the kava processing company Vanuatu Wise, in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
The owner of Capital Kava, William Hazell, is the son of the owner of Vanuatu Wise, Rosemary Leona. William has worked with Rosemary for years to establish and maintain the kava processing business in Vanuatu. Their clients consist of a long-term American client who sells the Kava Powder in the USA and customers around the region looking for good quality Kava.
About our Kava
The processing of kava undertaken by Capital Kava and Vanuatu Wise can be described in three stages:
The first stage is farming and sourcing the kava before harvest. This stage takes at the least up to 5 years and starts with the indigenous farmers of Pentecost. The farmers of Pentecost have been growing kava for 3000 years using techniques that have been passed down from generation to generation. The variety planted by the farmers has also been passed down using a strict selection process by the farmers, only transplanting strong and good quality kava plants.
The kava is then sourced and harvested by agents working for Vanuatu Wise. These agents must make sure the kava meets strict criteria before harvesting.
Before harvesting, the kava needs to meet the following specific criteria:
- The kava is of the Borongoru variety:
- The plant is 5 years or older:
- No pesticides have been used during the growing of the plant; and
- The plant does not have any diseases.
The harvested kava is given an initial clean, ridding it of the top of the plant before it is transported to the Vanuatu Wise processing factory in Port Vila. At the factory the kava is weighed, tagged, and cleaned. The cleaning process involves peeling off the outer skin of the root and washing it thoroughly in ultraviolet treated clean water to rid it of any final parasites that may be on the kava.
After the kava is cleaned, it is partially dried on sun beds, then chopped into smaller pieces and put on the drying beds again. Once the kava is dry enough for crushing it is put through our specialised kava crushing machine to make kava powder, before being packaged. The bio security department in Vanuatu is then called and an officer takes a sample to check nobility and a Phyto Certificate is then created and approved. Once the kava has met the strict legislation set out by the Government of Vanuatu for kava exportation, it is ready to be sent to Australia.
When the kava powder arrives in Australia it then has two further inspections by the Australian Government to check for quality. After that Capital Kava picks up the kava and it is stored in a food safe storage area ready for distribution to happy customers all around Australia.
Capital Kava is very proud of the kava it sells. The business is passionate about high quality kava, and we trust you can taste and feel that passion in the kava when you drink it. Please enjoy the highest quality Vanuatu kava in Australia through Capital Kava.
