Ngata Henry from Four Shells Kava Lounge with the new vending machine. Photo / Todd Henry
Ngata Henry from Four Shells Kava Lounge with the new vending machine. Photo / Todd Henry
Aotearoa’s first kava vending machine has opened in Tāmaki Makaurau, offering Aucklanders another way to get their hands on the popular drink.
The high-tech solution allows customers to buy kava from Four Shells Kava Lounge in Auckland’s CBD outside of their normal evening hours.
Stocked with pre-mixed kava as well as the powdered root and easier-to-mix instant variety, the machine is simply a modern extension of the way kava has always been bought and sold, Four Shells co-owner Todd Henry told the Herald.
NZ's first kava vending machine at Four Shells Kava Lounge in Auckland's CBD serves pre-mixed kava and powder. Photo / Todd Henry
The drink, made from the roots of the Piper methysticum plant, has a long history of use in the Pacific and differing kava cultures can be found across islands in Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.
Kava is entirely legal in New Zealand, regulated as a food under the Food Standards Code.
The legal standing of the drink was further solidified by a 2020 decision by an international food standards body, the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
The decision established that the root, when mixed with water, was legally a drink and able to be traded internationally.
Aotearoa’s kava culture, drawing on the traditions of our Pacific peoples, has become more visible in recent years with new businesses starting up and sportspeople and entertainers extolling its virtues.
Now in its sixth year, Four Shells wasn’t the first kava business in Auckland but has previously moved to meet the market by being the first to offer delivery via popular apps such as Uber Eats.
Kava is sold alongside other drinks and snacks in the vending machine at Four Shells Kava Lounge. Photo / Todd Henry
Other kava businesses offered the peppery beverage before Four Shells and kava has been available for sale from shops, dairies, and private homes for generations.
Drinking clubs like the Tongan kalapu offer space for community and talanoa, the open and respectful dialogue that accompanies kava drinking in formal and informal settings.
Henry says the vending machine will operate in the same way, making kava available for anyone who wants it at any time before the lounge at Victoria Park Market opens at 4pm, but predicts that a “significant percentage” of customers will be those using kava in traditional settings.
“Usually if someone calls me outside business hours and is desperate to get kava powder, it’s because they are hosting a traditional kava session or ceremony of some kind and realised that they might not have enough powder for it,” Henry, who runs the business with wife ‘Anau Mesui-Henry, explains.
'Anau Mesui-Henry and Todd Henry from Four Shells Kava Lounge. Photo / Babiche Martens
“Kava sales are usually quick and informal transactions anyway. Someone might knock on a door at a house that sells kava at any time of the day or night, the door opens, money is exchanged and the customer leaves with their kava. Our vending machine will pretty much perform the same function.”
Anyone who is not familiar with kava will be offered some basic advice and links to online videos when they make their purchase from the machine and Henry told the Herald it follows from years of educating customers about the drink.
“Even though over the last five years we have introduced thousands of people to kava, the ‘what is kava?’ question is still a common one we hear,” he said.
In the early days of the lounge, Henry says almost all of the clientele were of Pacific Island heritage, or had lived in the Pacific Islands.
“Now, we are seeing people of more diverse backgrounds who have never been to the Pacific Islands but they learned about kava and how to consume it in our space,” Henry says.
“People have formed close friendships over kava and there is a strong community. We see a lot of younger people who are looking to engage in something authentic and that is separated from the chaos of alcohol-fuelled environments.
“Too many people still think that kava is alcohol or a psychedelic, or that all kava is the same. We are making headway on changing negative perceptions of kava and that’s part of what keeps us motivated.”
Chris Marriner is an Auckland-based journalist covering trending news and social media. He joined the Herald in 2003 and previously worked in the Herald’s visual team.
