A kava boom is unfolding across the Pacific — but some leaders warn it's hurting families

Michael Louze has seen a kava-led boom unfolding on the roads of Vanuatu's remote islands.

Over the 25 years he's exported the crop, he's never seen prices so high — or growers so flush with cash.

Exporters say kava is generating vast amounts of income as its popularity grows overseas — including in Australia.

Mr Louze believes it is because the beverage, known for its calming effects, is becoming a more "mainstream" daily habit outside the Pacific Islands.

"You've got your coffee in the morning to have a bit of a boost and you've got your own kava in the afternoon to unwind a bit [at the end] of the day," he said.

It's become easier to find in Australia, after Woolworths followed Coles in stocking kava powder in June — a decision the supermarket giant attributes to customer demand.

Exporters predict Australia's budding appetite for kava will help grow the market in the Pacific, now valued between $2.2 and $3 billion — about the same size as the GDP of Solomon Islands.

But as kava becomes more popular across the Pacific, local leaders say it comes with social costs, and that profits should be balanced with public health.

Shelling out for kava

With its muddy colour and earthy flavour, kava is an acquired taste for some.

But across the Pacific, it carries deep cultural and spiritual meaning.

"Kava has for many, many, many years, centuries, been seen as part of what we do to create community," said Jioji Ravulo, professor of social work and policy studies at the University of Sydney.

Kava has traditionally been grown and consumed in Vanuatu, Fiji, and Tonga, where it's long been used in ceremonies and more recently has become commercialised.

But it's also now being imported and growing in popularity in countries like Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Kiribati.

Professor Ravulo said kava was becoming better known and understood around the world.

"It's being packaged in different ways, shapes and forms," he said.

"It's been around for generations, hundreds, probably thousands of years and it seems now is the moment that the rest of the world is interested in it.

Professor Ravulo said most people feel "chilled, laid back" after drinking kava.

But while health authorities say evidence suggests that kava is not addictive, Professor Ravulo said as with any substance, it can be abused.

In Kiribati, local leaders say its introduction has raised problems that could lead to "dire consequences" if unaddressed.

Ruth Cross Kwansing, Kiribati's Minister for Women, Youth and Sport, said kava had taken the country "by storm".

And, while it's a source of cash elsewhere in the Pacific, it's mainly a drain on income in Kiribati.

It costs $100 a kilogram, and it's estimated that Kiribati spent $28 million on Vanuatu-imported kava in the past 12 months.

Ms Kwansing said locals are using their welfare benefits to buy it.

"The government's working so hard to lift people out of poverty and all of its negative impacts, only to realise that it's being invested into kava," she said.

Ms Kwansing said some men were spending "copious amounts of time" away from their families drinking kava.

"They're exhausted from spending the entire night in a kava bar, then the next day … they're not going fishing, and they're not being productive around the house."

But exporter Michael Louze, who has noticed the success of kava bars in Kiribati, believes it's a better alternative to other substances like alcohol.

Professor Ravulo said education would help prevent kava's popularity creating social problems.

"It's all about educating its users to be informed about its impacts on the body, but also on other elements to their wellbeing, including their connection to others like significant partners, their children, their family and their community," he said.

Kava 'kings'

Fe'iloakitau Kaho Tevi, chairman of Tonga's National Kava Committee, said for some the crop was considered a "bank".

"If [farmers] want to pay a school fee … they will go and uproot one, two, three, four plants, and that is what allows them to pay," he said.

On kava-growing islands like Pentecost and Santo in Vanuatu, the signs of a kava cash boom are abundant, Mr Louze said.

"You'll see the number of vehicles, you'll see better houses, water systems, solar systems, farmers investing in land in town, building houses," he said.

Fiji kava exporter Praveen Narayan said that demand from buyers had increased 300 per cent over the past six months.

And it's driving up kava root prices in Fiji, which have grown from $40 to $100 per kilogram since November.

"Whoever has got kava will demand the price," he said.

Mr Narayan, who grows his own kava, said consumption in Australia was driving his sales.

Seventy per cent of his product goes to Australian buyers, who have overtaken his United States customers as his largest market.

"The American market is becoming more saturated, there's so many buyers now coming in and exporting to the US, undercutting [other exporters]," he said.

For now, the challenge for Pacific Island growers and exporters is keeping up with demand.

Mr Louze said it was hard finding enough workers to help produce more kava, with many young people doing seasonal work in Australia and New Zealand.

"Kava-producing nations are quite small in size, with a lot of challenges in terms of scaling up the production," he said.

"The absence of those youths in the farms is a limitation for kava development."