She told RNZ Pacific the lockdowns during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic and the January 15, 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption and tsunami forced her and her team to look at options to keep their business operations afloat.
They had taken over Pacific Brewing in 2017 with the idea of creating beer in Tonga to tell the story of their Polynesian heritage.
They rebranded their beer using the names of Polynesian mythical gods, which she said “was sort of the trend at the time”.
The ‘Sparkling Kava’ product is the result of two years of research and work, with the focus on making the drink available so they can also get the market’s feedback.
“During the Covid pandemic it was a very tough time for everybody and we started looking at what other opportunities we could look into,” she said.
“Kava was one of the things that has gone through stages throughout the years where it’s been permitted in overseas countries, where it hasn’t been permitted in some countries.
“And because my background is in exports and knowing to make the business viable, I started looking at what we could do to export up from Tonga.”
Emberson owning Reload Bar provided a good opportunity for them to have the sparkling kava on tap for people to taste.
“It’s taken us a while because first of all we were researching the properties of kava and what can we do with kava,” she said.
“And now, through Reload Bar, we’re going to do the market research and we’re doing that because we want the opinions not only of the Tongans but also of foreigners to see if this is something they would drink.”
Longer-term plans
She said that is the first step as they have more plans long-term.
“Of course we have a longer-term plan, where we would look at the viability of exporting,” she said.
“We are looking at flavouring, different flavourings, and also putting it into a bottle or a can.”
Emberson was born in Fiji and returned to Tonga in 1990 to invest in the fisheries sector, setting up Alatini Fisheries.
She said thepopularity of kava now around the globe was a factor they considered.
“The fact that although many tourists had in the past wanted to taste kava but were not able to do so because it was not readily available was another factor in them going the way they have.
“So that was the other reason why we looked at kava because I’ve been doing a lot of travelling through Indonesia I noticed that it was very easy for you to drink coconut or drink this or drink that ... all the locally available drinks,” she said.
“And I know in Tonga, when you visit, as a tourist you say I’d like to taste kava and it’s not available, so that was one of the things we wanted to meet, the need that is there.”
She added customer feedback and the result of their research on the product now available will form the basis of their next step.
“It’s been good so far,” she revealed when asked how people are responding.
Sparkling kava being served at the Reload Bar in Nuku'alofa, Tonga. Photo / Tricia Emberson
Not enough support
Meanwhile, Emberson said small island countries in the Pacific, like Tonga, need more support for the private sector.
She revealed this was something she has witnessed over the years since her family started their business operations in 1990.
They have had to shut down their fisheries business because of the high costs of operations and are working hard on keeping their Pacific Brewing and Reload Bar operations going by looking at product options like the sparkling kava and flavoured kava.
“There hasn’t been, as far as I’ve seen, the support of the private sector,” she said.
“I think Fiji is a little bit better. But in some of the smaller Pacific islands that’s support for the private sector is not there.
“That’s been my game since 1990 as an entrepreneur, private enterprise, looking and seeing what I can do to help the country and you know, it’s just difficult.
“I’ve been now in Australia and it’s amazing to see the difference in the support of small businesses.”
The legal standing of the drink was further solidified by a decision in 2020 by an international food standards body, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, that established that the root, when mixed with water, was legally a drink.
The decision allowed countries across the world to trade kava.
Pacific health researcher Dr Apo Aporosa and Pacific mental health nurse lecturer Dr Sione Vaka from the University of Waikato are co-leading a study to assess the efficacy of kava when consumed alongside talanoa, the open and respectful dialogue that accompanies kava drinking in formal and informal settings.
The clinical trials will take three years, focusing on first responders, Corrections staff and military personnel who have seen combat and they are supported by a nearly $1 million grant from the Health Research Council.
“We’re potentially providing a form of therapy that people are going to be able to easily replicate, by simply sitting with friends and drinking a traditional substance that allows for quality conversation as it doesn’t cause euphoria or disinhibit like alcohol or cannabis,” Dr Aporosa told the Herald in 2023.
“I don’t imagine that the pharmaceutical industry is going to be impressed if we can show traditional kava use can reduce PTSD symptoms, particularly as kava is cheap and easy to access.”
