Sept. 12, 2025

Ep 75: Inside the Kratom Industry: Emy & Oshin of Jaya Kratom Share Their Journey

Ep 75: Inside the Kratom Industry: Emy & Oshin of Jaya Kratom Share Their Journey
Kratom Stories Podcast
Ep 75: Inside the Kratom Industry: Emy & Oshin of Jaya Kratom Share Their Journey

Emy and Oshin of Jaya Kratom share their journey from Borneo field research to building a Portland, OR shop, debunking myths, and showing how small-batch sourcing benefits people and planet.

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In this episode, Emy & Oshin of Jaya Kratom share an insider view of the industry, from their field research in the rainforests of Borneo to building a Portland shop dedicated to education and transparency. They open up about what it was like living with farming communities, how Kratom supports families and preserves the rainforest, and the challenges they’ve seen firsthand in an industry often clouded by misinformation.

We also dive into myths about “strains,” the difference between large container shipments and small-batch sourcing, and why freshness and single-origin practices matter for consumers. Emy & Oshin’s journey offers a rare perspective that connects the roots of Kratom in Southeast Asia to its impact here in the U.S., making this conversation both eye-opening and inspiring for anyone who wants to understand the plant more deeply.

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THE KRATOM GALS is a dose of real talk, real stories, and relentless advocacy. Every week, we dive into the latest Kratom headlines, react to videos, and call out misinformation with facts and fierce passion. It's not just a show, it’s a movement to protect the plant we love and the people who rely on it. YouTube.com/@KratomStories

Please note: The views and experiences shared in this episode are personal and unique to the guest. Kratom, while featured prominently in these stories, is a botanical substance that is unregulated in the U.S. and various countries around the world. The Kratom Stories Podcast and its host, Madalyn Sklar, do not endorse, promote, or encourage the use of Kratom. We simply aim to shed light on personal experiences and narratives related to this plant. If you're considering using Kratom, we strongly urge you to seek professional medical advice, conduct thorough research, and comply with all local laws and guidelines.

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So kratom strains really do not
exist.

2
00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:05,040
There is just one type of kratom
tree growing fundamentally.

3
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I think one of the most kind of
funny and evocative stories of

4
00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:12,600
that was when we first went out
and we first arrived out in the

5
00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:15,200
middle of Borneo.
And we're with these, you know,

6
00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:17,360
some of the first kratom farms
that we were on.

7
00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:21,840
And we're talking to these old
Indonesian guys that were the

8
00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:24,840
kratom farmers there.
And we're saying like, so OK, so

9
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tell me about your land here.
Tell me what's going on.

10
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What what are the different
strains you're growing?

11
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You know, what do you have
growing here?

12
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What do you have growing here?
Like, you know, give us a tour

13
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of, of your operations and these
old Indonesian, you know, kratom

14
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growers looking at us very
confused, like silly foreigners.

15
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What are you talking about?
Like, this is an old kratom

16
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tree.
And they're like, yeah, those,

17
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those are our neighbors kratom
trees.

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And that's a big one.
That's a small one.

19
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This one is flowering.
And this notion of there being

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different strains just
completely was was was going

21
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over their head.
So I'm here with Emmy and Ocean,

22
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a couple who are doing an
amazing job in the kratom

23
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industry.
Been super excited to bring them

24
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on to share their message about
kratom and the really amazing

25
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things they're doing.
Emmy and Ocean, thank you all

26
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for coming on the podcast to
come share your incredible story

27
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with us.
Hey, thank you so much.

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We're so happy to be here.
We've been following your work

29
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for a long time and are just
really, really impressed by all

30
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the advocacy you've been doing
in the atomosphere and are so

31
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happy to speak with you today.
Yeah.

32
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To share our share our story and
have a conversation with you.

33
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Absolutely.
And I'm so glad you all reached

34
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out several months back.
You know, it, I went, I mean, I

35
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get contacted by a lot of
companies and I'm very

36
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particular about who I ever want
to be aligned with and, and talk

37
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to you because, you know,
honestly, in this industry,

38
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there are a lot of shady
companies out there and people

39
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that don't care about consumers.
They just care about making

40
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money.
And when I went to your website,

41
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I was super impressed by your
story and what you guys are

42
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doing in this industry is, is
phenomenal.

43
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And I want to help spread that
message far and wide.

44
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So that's why I'm just so
excited to have you here to, to

45
00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,760
talk to us today.
And why don't we start with with

46
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y'all sharing a little bit about
yourself before Kratom, your

47
00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:33,480
life before Kratom, and then how
kratom came into the picture.

48
00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:36,640
Yeah, absolutely.
So yeah, my name is Osheen.

49
00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:41,560
I am the Co founder of Jaya
Kratom along with Emmy here.

50
00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:46,120
And so I've lived all around the
world in a number of different

51
00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:50,960
places, but have spent a lot of
my formative years here in

52
00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,080
Portland, OR.
So that is where we have our our

53
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headquarters, we have our brick
and mortar Cortana dispensary,

54
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and we also have our warehouse
and all our operations here in

55
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Portland.
And yeah, spent a lot of years

56
00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:05,320
here throughout high school and
university.

57
00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:09,040
And now we've been back here for
about 5 years.

58
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And yeah, absolutely love the
Pacific Northwest and we have an

59
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incredible kratom community out
here as well.

60
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There's a huge kratom community,
a lot of people that are turned

61
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onto the plant.
And yeah, very happy to to be

62
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home here.
And my kratom story actually

63
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begins quite a long time ago in
Portland.

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It's been a part of my life
since I would say at least 2012,

65
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if not before.
And I had the good fortune of

66
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finding kratom way back then in
a small herbalist shop in

67
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Portland.
And I went to university at Reed

68
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College here, which is a very
academic super, you know,

69
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rigorous kind of life of the
mind school, a lot of hours in

70
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the library and found that to be
super challenging and really was

71
00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:09,760
looking for something to help me
with long hours in the library

72
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and writing huge papers.
And, you know, that really

73
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rigorous academia side that I
found to be quite challenging.

74
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And I had read about Katam and
some old botany books, had

75
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heard, you know, a little bit
about it here and there in the

76
00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:25,760
library, was trying to find
information.

77
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It was, there was not too much
about it, but I'd heard about

78
00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:31,360
how it had been used for, you
know, working and productivity

79
00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:35,800
as a kind of a caffeine
alternative in addition to a

80
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number of other uses.
And yeah, managed to find some

81
00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:45,000
and was blown away by how much
it helped me and, and you know,

82
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made spending 8 hours in the
library working fun and

83
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engaging.
And I found it to be just

84
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invaluable in my life for
working productivity.

85
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And then found it, you know,
really, really useful in a

86
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number of other ways from doing
things with sports or recovery

87
00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,840
or, you know, just socializing
and with friends in a healthier

88
00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:10,480
way than than alcohol.
And, and yeah, I found it to be

89
00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,520
just a huge really beneficial
part of my life from from then

90
00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:17,640
on, so.
And then on my side, I'm Emmy,

91
00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,520
I'm British, as you may be able
to maybe out to hear.

92
00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:25,560
And so growing up in England,
kratom was actually banned in

93
00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,280
the UK quite a long time ago.
So it never really entered the

94
00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:33,560
public consciousness in the way
it has here.

95
00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:37,360
So I actually didn't encounter
kratom until quite a lot later

96
00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,560
when we were actually living in
Indonesia completely unrelated

97
00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,800
to kratom in 2019.
And so I was really lucky in

98
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that way that my first
introduction to Gratan was

99
00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:51,640
really like in the source and
straight this beautiful, fresh,

100
00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,840
lovely green, bright, like
beautiful Gratan.

101
00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:00,040
And actually remember the first
time trying for Tom and the

102
00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:03,000
first time really feeling its
effects, just drinking a tea

103
00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,880
with Osheen one day and then
going out on a walk by myself

104
00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,960
and just walking through the
beautiful Indonesian countryside

105
00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:14,480
and just felt like absolutely
fantastic and like myself on my

106
00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,480
very best day where I was so
chatty and feeling really like

107
00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:21,000
social and positive.
And just remember being like,

108
00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,920
wow, this is something new.
This is something I've never

109
00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:26,480
experienced before with a plant.
And it's just a really

110
00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:30,680
incredible and mind blowing
experience.

111
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I'd never heard of it before.
So that's where, you know, went

112
00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:38,360
back home, wanted to research it
and find out some information

113
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about it.
And back then in 20/20/18, I

114
00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:47,760
guess 2019, the information that
you could find on kratom was

115
00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:50,960
just so limited.
There were barely even any

116
00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:54,520
photographs online.
And I was top photographer at

117
00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:56,600
the time.
So this really triggered my

118
00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,560
interest that you didn't really
have any images of this plant.

119
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That was just seemed like so
exceptional that everybody

120
00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:03,240
seemed like they should know
about.

121
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And in my mind, it's like, it's
like I stumbled upon coffee for

122
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the first time, but nobody had
told me about it until I was in

123
00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:13,840
my 20s.
So, yeah, that really just LED

124
00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:17,800
us down this rabbit hole of, of
research and LED us to putting

125
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together project because being
in Indonesia, we're like, hey,

126
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we're only like 2 hours away by
flight from Borneo.

127
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She's also part of Indonesia and
we're so close to the source.

128
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And so all these questions that
were coming up and we're unable

129
00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:36,400
to answer at the time, we're
like, hey, we can go and answer

130
00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:38,800
those for ourselves.
And so, yeah, we put together a

131
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research project and everything
kind of LED from there.

132
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That's incredible.
So you're like, let's just go to

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Borneo.
Let's go to the source.

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Yeah, we really say that it's
like, it's kind of like the

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energy that we got from Cortana,
the focus and the the positive

136
00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,600
feelings and uplift that we got
from it was really the the

137
00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,720
essence of what made us be
capable of putting together this

138
00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:04,840
project.
So we really say that we've been

139
00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,960
carried by this leaf around the
world to to research it and then

140
00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:13,040
to open a company.
That is incredible.

141
00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:16,640
So I bet you'll have amazing
stories of your research.

142
00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:18,440
How?
How much time did y'all spend

143
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over there doing all that?
So we've spent probably pushing

144
00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:29,800
8 weeks actually out in remote
Borneo, sleeping on katam farms,

145
00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:34,600
travelling all over, really
ingrained in the community, way

146
00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:37,640
out in the Borneo rainforest.
But then we've also done a lot

147
00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:43,159
of other katam research in
Thailand and Malaysia and other

148
00:08:43,159 --> 00:08:46,920
parts of Southeast Asia.
So All in all, we've been at it

149
00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:49,360
for, you know, kind of years in
total.

150
00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:54,600
But yeah, in that the bulk of
our research and, and where we

151
00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:56,920
source all of our Katam from is
coming from, from out in the

152
00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,520
Borneo rainforest, from
communities that that we know

153
00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,680
really well and from, from
people that we really regard as

154
00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:05,080
friends.
And yeah, we just had the the

155
00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:09,640
great fortune to to get research
funding to go out and, and study

156
00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:14,120
Katam cultivation.
And in fact, our whole initial

157
00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:17,840
research was, was way before we
were involved in the kratom

158
00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:22,640
vendorsphere whatsoever and was
just a passion project for us

159
00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:27,000
because we loved the plant.
And we saw that there was a lot

160
00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:31,640
of misinformation about it or a
lot of conflicting information.

161
00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:34,640
There were just a whole lot of
questions that we had and we saw

162
00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:38,120
others had about the kratom
industry and, and where it's

163
00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:41,160
coming from and what makes good
kratom, what makes bad kratom,

164
00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:44,280
all of that.
So that's really what motivated

165
00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:48,080
us to, to get out there and get
into the field.

166
00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:51,720
And I myself had had a, you
know, a huge number of questions

167
00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:58,320
about the plants from from 2012
to, you know, 2018-2019 when we

168
00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:01,320
were getting out there in
Indonesia, because I, like many

169
00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:05,440
people had, you know, fallen in
love with kratom, have some

170
00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,240
amazing batches.
But then I think especially back

171
00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:11,280
in the day, it's still now
there's, you know, this constant

172
00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:14,840
discussion of, of, of, you know,
why are there occasionally these

173
00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:17,120
batches that have very little
effect or don't have very nice

174
00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:19,600
effects?
What, what is the difference

175
00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:21,480
between these batches?
What are the agricultural

176
00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:26,200
practices that go into creating
really, you know, high alkaloid,

177
00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:28,880
really nice feeling for Tom and
it, you know, again and again

178
00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:32,240
found amazing for Tom in
Portland and then very poor

179
00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:33,800
quality for Tom.
And that raised a lot of

180
00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:36,200
questions on my mind about, you
know, what's going on out there.

181
00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:41,200
Yeah, we have to.
We have to go and and get out

182
00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:43,240
into the Borneo rainforest and
figure it out.

183
00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:46,880
That is so interesting.
So what was it like being in the

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00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,200
rainforest and doing that
reason, You know, majority of us

185
00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:54,120
here in the USI mean we just buy
our Kratom, it's in a pouch and

186
00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,480
we scoop it into our tea or toss
and wash or whatever we do with

187
00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:00,720
consuming it.
And so incredibly different when

188
00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,520
you're actually over there
having that experience.

189
00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:04,760
So talk a little more about
that.

190
00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:06,840
Yeah.
So I think to put it in

191
00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,840
perspective, Borneo's an
absolutely massive island.

192
00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,760
It's four times the size of the
UK, larger than Texas.

193
00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:18,400
It's absolutely huge, and it's
bang on the equator.

194
00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,960
And in Indonesia, Indonesia,
it's called Kalimantan.

195
00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:27,600
Kalimantan in Sanskrit means
land of the burning air because

196
00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:33,280
it's just like 35°C.
So what a 95 Fahrenheit every

197
00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:35,800
single day, day and night, high
humidity.

198
00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,480
It's a very, very intense place
to be.

199
00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:43,600
And on top of that, the areas
like kratom is growing and not

200
00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:48,040
at all the the areas where
tourists go.

201
00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:50,000
So there's no tourism
infrastructure.

202
00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:52,680
It's very few hotels or guest
houses.

203
00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:57,360
So when we're spending time out
there, it's really local.

204
00:11:57,360 --> 00:11:59,720
People have put us up and we're
sleeping on somebody's floor for

205
00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:03,800
a week and staying in these
little, like shacks made from

206
00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:07,760
kratom wood often.
And going up, you know, 18 hours

207
00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:12,040
by car to the center of the
island and then three hours on a

208
00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:15,440
rickety little boat to go to the
kratom farms, which were growing

209
00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:18,640
on the kratom on the riverbanks
of the Kapwis River.

210
00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:24,320
So it's a very, very rugged,
intense experience.

211
00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:28,000
But there is really some
incredible communities out

212
00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:32,120
there, very, very remote and
there's a wonderful hosting

213
00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:35,840
culture in Indonesia.
So we're always wonderfully

214
00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:38,800
received and people always
receive us with coffee and katam

215
00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:42,160
and beautiful meals.
And so it's a really, really

216
00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:47,200
wonderful experience.
And yeah, it's it can be

217
00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:52,440
challenging, but in a good way.
Challenging, but in a good way.

218
00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:59,200
Yeah, very, very long boat and
car rides and going way out by

219
00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:02,920
foot and yeah, very challenging.
But everybody out in Borneo is

220
00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:05,640
just, you know, such an
incredible community of people.

221
00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:08,840
And it's just such a pleasure
for us to to to be able to do

222
00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:11,520
this work and this research.
And is, is truly a pleasure to,

223
00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:15,320
to be able to wander out into,
into the forest or to people's

224
00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:18,520
kratom and, you know, eat the
leaves fresh off the trees and,

225
00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,400
and interact with folks in that
way and learn about the, the

226
00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:24,280
cultivation of the plants, but
also the traditional community

227
00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,320
and, and how people have used it
there for hundreds of years.

228
00:13:27,560 --> 00:13:30,080
Yeah, people are really excited
usually to receive us it too,

229
00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:33,560
because we found almost
systematically that

230
00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:37,080
unfortunately we were the
actually the first people coming

231
00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:41,800
there to talk about Craton in
many, many communities.

232
00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:45,280
They hadn't had anybody, despite
these massive companies already

233
00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,520
existing in the US, they had
never met any representatives

234
00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:52,800
from those companies coming out
to visit the farms and to and

235
00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:54,560
to, you know, see what was going
on.

236
00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:56,920
And if they had, it would be for
like, you know, 20 minutes,

237
00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:00,520
somebody would come through and
shake some hands and then get a

238
00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:05,800
very sanitized tour of the of
the Craton farm and then leave.

239
00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:10,160
So people were very happy to let
us into their world and show us

240
00:14:10,560 --> 00:14:13,920
what was going on.
And given that we were not at

241
00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:18,600
all on our very first trip,
since we were not actually part

242
00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:21,760
of the industry at that point
and nobody was under any

243
00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:24,520
pretense that they were going to
sell us anything, we got a very

244
00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:28,080
unsanitized version of the
Croton industry.

245
00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:32,960
So, you know, people went
cleaning up before we arrived or

246
00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:35,720
trying to make everything seem
perfect or only showing us the

247
00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,880
good things.
We got very much the the full

248
00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,680
image of the good, the bad and
the ugly of the crouton industry

249
00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:47,280
in the in Indonesia.
That, that is so cool.

250
00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:49,840
So what was your first
impression when y'all were there

251
00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:51,640
experiencing that their first
time?

252
00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:55,920
Well, I guess it could speak a
little bit to the environmental

253
00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:58,880
factors of what's going on in
Borneo, and that also ties into

254
00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:00,400
what it actually looks like out
there.

255
00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:06,120
So you can fly into the cities
on the coast of Borneo and

256
00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:08,080
there's no qatam growing there
whatsoever.

257
00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:11,920
So you actually have to drive
about 15 hours, 12:12 to, you

258
00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:16,520
know, 18 hours inland into the
center of Borneo to find where

259
00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:19,160
Katam's really growing naturally
and where these, you know, Katam

260
00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:23,240
communities are.
And for, you know, the 1st 8

261
00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:26,480
hours of that drive, you know,
it's honestly heartbreaking

262
00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:28,520
'cause you think, wow, you're
out in the, in the, in this

263
00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,200
really remote place in the
Borneo rainforest, you're gonna

264
00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,440
see orangutans and all this
awesome wildlife and, and you

265
00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:36,760
know, rainforest and all this.
And yeah, the first eight hours,

266
00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:40,240
it is really the, the forest has
been clear cut.

267
00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:44,800
There are palm oil plantations
as far as the eye can see.

268
00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:47,440
And unfortunately, you know,
that part of the world has

269
00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:51,720
really been devastated
ecologically by the the rubber

270
00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:56,600
industry, rubber trees, palm oil
and and logging.

271
00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:58,040
Those are really.
Gold mining.

272
00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:00,360
Too gold mining, yeah.
And those are really the three

273
00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,800
unfortunately super extractive,
super damaging industries out

274
00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:07,120
there.
So that's kind of what you're

275
00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:09,800
you're first faced with as you,
as you go out into these, you

276
00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,720
know, super remote areas is the
reality of, of yeah, of, you

277
00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:15,720
know, deforestation of palm oil
and rubber.

278
00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:21,080
And then finally getting out
deeper into kratom country, like

279
00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,400
we call it, you know, where
you're, you're really out there.

280
00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:26,240
And there's there's still forest
and there's wild kratom and

281
00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:30,560
you're more remote.
We got to learn about how the

282
00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:34,880
kratom industry is really
providing this incredible

283
00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:40,960
alternative to these really
badly paying, exploitative

284
00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:44,040
industries.
And we got to meet with so many

285
00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:49,040
people that were just incredibly
thankful for kratom becoming

286
00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,360
popular in the rest of the world
because these really remote

287
00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:57,600
villages were able to, you know,
make a living for themselves and

288
00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:01,720
their family and exist in their
traditional communities without

289
00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:04,800
cutting down the forest,
without, you know, ripping up

290
00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:07,920
the riverbanks, mining for gold,
planting palm oil and the

291
00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:11,240
pesticides and fertilizers that
go with all of all of the palm

292
00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,040
oil and rubber industry.
And so we got to see this

293
00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:19,640
picture of how kratom is really
this, you know, integral part of

294
00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:22,760
the answer to preserving the
forest out there and allowing

295
00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:25,079
people to also maintain their
traditional way of lives in

296
00:17:25,079 --> 00:17:29,040
their traditional communities
and not, you know, travel great

297
00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:31,480
distances to find work logging
or somewhere else.

298
00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:35,400
And so so that was really a
beautiful to see how Cortana is

299
00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:39,120
this plant that benefits so many
lives in the US and Europe and

300
00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:43,160
all around the world, but
indirectly through preserving

301
00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:46,000
ecology is also really
benefiting the land and and then

302
00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,600
the people of of the Borneo
rainforest in Indonesia.

303
00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:52,040
Yeah, it's one of the only
industries out there where maybe

304
00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:57,840
even the only industry where
it's where it's you can grow

305
00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:00,680
some kratom trees and make an
income and keep that income

306
00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:04,280
within the community completely.
Like a small amount of land will

307
00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:09,880
provide enough income with
kratom to sustain and really

308
00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,920
improve people's livelihoods.
We had the same story over and

309
00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:15,600
over again, which is really,
really touching of people saying

310
00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:19,600
thanks to Kratom, I was able to
send my kids to university for

311
00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:24,040
the first time and they're off
in the in the city and then

312
00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:27,880
learning English too.
So they're actually able to

313
00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:32,600
speak to buyers and and have
this really wonderful

314
00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:37,200
relationship where they're then
working to also improve their

315
00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,680
families business.
And yeah, this really touching

316
00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:43,040
story of, yeah, kids being able
to go to university for the

317
00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:46,640
first time, as well as a lot of
the men saying that they were

318
00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:50,400
really happy because in the
past, they'd had to go months at

319
00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:53,360
a time, logging off into remote
parts of the forest and not see

320
00:18:53,360 --> 00:18:55,080
their families for months at a
time.

321
00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:59,240
But they were finally able to
work within their village and

322
00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:02,640
stay with their kids and stay
with their families rather than

323
00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:04,320
having to go and find work
elsewhere.

324
00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:08,640
So that was a really, really
inspiring story for us and not

325
00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,280
one that we really expected to
to come across, but it was

326
00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:13,760
something we heard all over the
place.

327
00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,400
And there's even now some
studies were done by the

328
00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:21,960
Indonesian government that say
that yes, 70% of the rubber

329
00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:27,120
plantations in West Borneo have
been cut down, say non-native

330
00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:30,120
and replaced with kratom
plantations because the kratom

331
00:19:30,120 --> 00:19:32,120
is native.
So it grows a lot easier, the

332
00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:36,080
work is easier, the money's
better, and everybody is very,

333
00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:40,400
very happy to have this, this
plant become so popular.

334
00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:43,680
And we talk a lot about people
relying on kratom on the in the

335
00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,600
US and for various health
reasons.

336
00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:52,440
So I'm just enjoying the plant.
But it's really important to

337
00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:54,160
take it.
Bear in mind too, the number of

338
00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:58,360
people who are relying on kratom
economically out in out in

339
00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:01,920
Borneo.
It's incredible and it makes.

340
00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,600
It makes you like want to
support companies like yours

341
00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:08,720
even more that are working
directly with these small

342
00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:13,040
farmers, these families that you
all have spent a lot of time

343
00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:17,160
there, did all that research,
got to know people and and

344
00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:20,240
seeing how this is affecting
their lives.

345
00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,040
Yeah, we had to really rewrite,
rewrite the book on how the

346
00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,640
industry works in order to to
make these relationships.

347
00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:34,800
Because normally some people who
are supplying companies are

348
00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:38,440
living in the big city of
Pontiac, which is an industrial

349
00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:41,920
city in Grosvenor Cotam.
And they're actually just

350
00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:44,640
collecting.
Or they have a guy in the remote

351
00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,960
areas who's collecting leaves
and then who's shipping them to

352
00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:49,760
the city to be mailed and sent
off.

353
00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:53,160
And we weren't happy with that
system because it means that,

354
00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:55,480
you know, you have somebody
doing a great job and then

355
00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:58,360
somebody doing a mediocre job
and it's all mixed together and

356
00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:02,200
there's no accountability to,
you know, harvest these at the

357
00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:07,000
right time and to and to be
making a really high quality

358
00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,000
product.
So we actually had to go and

359
00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:14,080
negotiate to make sure that we
are directly in contact with

360
00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:17,680
every single farmer so that we
can place orders directly with

361
00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:23,560
them and make sure that's only
one, one community or families

362
00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:25,640
leaves that are being collected.
And we know that they're doing a

363
00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:29,200
good job.
And then we can keep that as one

364
00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,560
small batch instead of, you
know, everything being mixed

365
00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:35,680
together as it usually is.
Yeah, I think it's, it's it's

366
00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:37,960
really important to kind of
paint a picture and always

367
00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,120
talking to this with with
customers that come into our

368
00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:42,400
shop and we're telling them, OK,
so everything we have here is

369
00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:44,960
small batch, but single origin
also.

370
00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,480
So it's not just a small
shipment from a huge shipment,

371
00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:50,280
right?
A small batch in single origin.

372
00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:53,760
So they'll all be coming from
one particular Grove of trees

373
00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:57,600
that we've seen and know that
they are planted in the optimal

374
00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,080
area rather, you know, wildly
growing in their optimal

375
00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:02,720
habitat.
And the leaves are only being

376
00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:06,000
harvested, you know, every four
months as opposed to every two

377
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:07,600
months.
And, and all of these factors

378
00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:10,800
that lead to a great kratom and
trying to just communicate to

379
00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,920
people that most of the kratom
that enters the US is coming in

380
00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:20,600
2040 ton container shipments.
And to fulfill a container order

381
00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:25,680
like that, it's going to be, you
know, 2 to maybe 500 different

382
00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:30,240
kratom collectors, growers,
harvesters, etcetera, that are

383
00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:34,480
pooling their crop to fulfill
this massive 2040 ton container

384
00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,600
shipment.
And it's amazing that kratom has

385
00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:40,000
become more popular in the US
and around the world.

386
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:43,800
It's helping so many people.
This is an incredible thing, but

387
00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,440
it is also a double edged sword.
And this, you know, large demand

388
00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,440
of kratom has caused a lot of
corners to be cut where you

389
00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:54,040
have, let's say 500 different,
you know, small kratom

390
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,960
collectors pooling their crop
for this massive order.

391
00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,080
And you know, maybe 50% of them
are picking the leaf at the

392
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:02,760
right time, letting it really
mature.

393
00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:05,760
The trees are planted or, you
know, wild harvested from the

394
00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:07,960
correct areas and it's super
high quality.

395
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:10,320
But then the other half maybe
just, you know, you're getting

396
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:13,560
paid by the kilo and you're just
ripping them off and God knows

397
00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:17,120
what's in there and it's all
gets mixed together, which

398
00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:19,560
really brings down the quality.
And then a forty ton container

399
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:23,440
shipment might take years to
fully process through the system

400
00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:26,320
in the US and warehouses and
different vendors to actually

401
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:28,600
reach the final consumer.
So, you know, the Cortana you're

402
00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:32,160
getting might be, you know,
years old and from this

403
00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:35,440
enormous, enormous batch as
opposed to just being from 1,

404
00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:39,560
you know, particular Grove of
wild trees, for example, where

405
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:43,240
it's going to be harvested
regularly and a lot of care and

406
00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:47,000
attention is placed on that.
That is so interesting.

407
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,800
So I think as just me, a typical
cream consumer, it's something I

408
00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:54,920
have no knowledge about.
And it makes sense that when

409
00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:57,920
it's, you know, the big
companies and these big

410
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:00,080
shipments that, you know, it is
a process.

411
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:02,440
It's got to get shipped all the
way over here.

412
00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:06,000
It's got to be quarantined.
They got to do the testing and

413
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:10,320
that can take a long time.
So by you all doing small batch,

414
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:13,640
single origin, you're, you're
basically saying that you can

415
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:15,960
move through the process.
You're not cutting corners, of

416
00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:20,120
course, but you're able to do
this faster.

417
00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:23,480
So there's a fresher product.
Yeah, exactly.

418
00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,160
Yeah, What we're always going
for is that really bright green

419
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:30,000
color that really.
Yeah, really punchy, looks like

420
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,440
matcha.
And yeah, that's the first

421
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,840
Craton that I had encountered.
And it's so surprising to me

422
00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:39,760
sometimes when I'll see like
Craton for sale around, which

423
00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:42,200
has got this like sad dark Gray
color.

424
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:44,840
And then people are surprised
that they don't like the flavor

425
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:46,920
of it.
And you know, when you have a

426
00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:50,440
really bright, beautiful, bold
green Craton, it's got that

427
00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:56,920
really tasty matcha flavor that
that I really appreciate.

428
00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:59,280
And that means that it's fresh
and it's alive and it's.

429
00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:01,800
Yeah, it's just straight from
the source.

430
00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,000
Yeah, I've definitely have
noticed a different when I'm

431
00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,400
excited to, I make mine as a
little swamp water tea.

432
00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:10,720
I don't like doing the toss and
wash, but I also don't want to

433
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,240
like sip it and make a big tea.
I just like to mix up enough hot

434
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:18,240
water or warm water to mix the
powder and just let it cool off

435
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:20,480
a bit.
And for the longest time I was

436
00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:23,520
just drinking it hot with orange
juice and that's so gross to me.

437
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:25,720
It is.
But I like cool off a while,

438
00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:28,160
then I'll add some cold juice
and it's not that bad and I

439
00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:30,720
drink it really fast and I get
my pain relief, which I love.

440
00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:34,640
But I definitely notice a
difference with certain

441
00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:39,880
companies, certain batches and
with your Kratom, Jaya Kratom, I

442
00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:43,760
definitely can see that
freshness and that how is

443
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,880
different from most other ones.
And not to say good, bad or

444
00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:50,680
indifferent, but like it's
interesting how it seems like

445
00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,600
small batch kratom companies,
the way they're doing things,

446
00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:57,560
getting it fresher.
I can see a bit of a difference

447
00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:02,040
for me as that in consumer
who's, you know, using it.

448
00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:05,320
So yeah, it's just.
We always tell people it is a

449
00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:08,800
bitter plant, right?
It will always have that strong

450
00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:11,360
bitter flavor, but that doesn't
mean that it can't.

451
00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:14,600
Also depends on the individual.
Everybody's got a very different

452
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,480
palette, but if it's been
harvested at the right time and

453
00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:21,720
it's been dried really carefully
and it's fresh and bright green,

454
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:26,200
should have notes of matcha of
tea, it should also be fresh.

455
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,680
And you can really tell that.
And then also, I believe also

456
00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:33,240
feel it in the effects when it's
really, really fresh, high

457
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,760
quality kratom like that.
And yeah, I'm glad you've

458
00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:38,720
noticed and are appreciating
that as well.

459
00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:41,960
Absolutely, and what's
interesting with y'all's

460
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,040
products is that you even have
it on the package, you know a

461
00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:48,480
15, this is coming from a 15
year old tree or you have one

462
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:51,760
that's like 50 plus.
And it's like the first time I

463
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:53,800
used the kratom that said 50
plus.

464
00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:57,400
I'm like, Oh my gosh, I'm about
to consume kratom off off of a

465
00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:00,240
tree that is 50 at least 50
years old.

466
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:02,720
That to me was mind blowing
because you don't hear about

467
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,160
that in the industry.
You don't hear about the I mean,

468
00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:07,960
maybe I'm just geeky.
I find it interesting.

469
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,080
So talk a little what about
that, How things are being

470
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:16,160
harvested, the age of the tree,
how this all make a difference

471
00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,200
for us in consumers?
That's a great question.

472
00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:22,000
So we work pretty much
exclusively everything except

473
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,800
for our red currently is all
wild harvested.

474
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:29,400
And we find that that makes a
really big difference because

475
00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:31,960
the trees are going to be
planted, planted.

476
00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:35,200
They occur in their ideal
natural habitat, right, which is

477
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:37,320
along the banks of the river.
So we often hear about, you

478
00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:40,960
know, the Kaplitz River is that
massive river where most of the

479
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:44,440
world's katama is coming from.
And the trees will be naturally

480
00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:47,040
occurring.
The wild katama trees are right

481
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:51,080
on the riverbanks where the tap
roots, the roots of the trees

482
00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:55,120
can reach down and have
unlimited water, right?

483
00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:58,120
They're water loving plants.
And then you also get the

484
00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:02,400
phenomenon that every year the
river will flood and overflow

485
00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:07,880
the banks and deposit super
mineral rich, you know, silt.

486
00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:11,560
And so that is basically the
natural fertilization process

487
00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:15,440
that occurs out in Borneo.
And so if you're getting Kratom

488
00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:20,640
from these wild trees and their
perfect habitat like that, they

489
00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:23,640
are, you know, getting as much
water as they need and getting

490
00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,640
this mineral rich fertilization
process.

491
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,200
And so that's where we'll notice
that the flavor will be a lot

492
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:32,160
better and the potency will be a
lot better.

493
00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:36,560
And there's not necessarily a
direct correlation between age

494
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:39,440
of tree and potency.
It's not that a a 25 year old

495
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:42,160
tree is always going to be more
potent than a 20 year old tree

496
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:46,880
and so on and so forth.
But what we do notice is that

497
00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:50,000
these trees that are older and
in their natural habitat are

498
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:52,480
generally producing the best
quality Kratom.

499
00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:57,640
And as the industry has has
evolved and become more popular,

500
00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:01,920
we are seeing a lot of these
massive craton plantations where

501
00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:03,840
the trees are planted too close
together.

502
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:07,840
They're all planted in rows and
then they'll often be harvested

503
00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:10,360
very frequently, right?
So like every two months.

504
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:13,520
And they might be coming from
trees that are, you know, two to

505
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:16,600
three years old.
And they haven't really had the

506
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:19,280
full amount of time to, to, to
mature and get a really, really

507
00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:23,600
solid alkaloid package and to,
to be, you know, be fully ready,

508
00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:28,640
ready for harvest, I would say.
And on top of that, if a, if

509
00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:31,960
trees are planted in suboptimal
conditions or too close together

510
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:37,320
or in poor soil, and they'll be
more vulnerable to, to pests and

511
00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:43,120
then farmers will tend to use
pesticides to, to, you know,

512
00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:47,600
combat that problem.
And so we do test for 60

513
00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:52,280
different pesticides, but there
would be no reason anyway for

514
00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:56,880
these farmers to use these
pesticides because the trees are

515
00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:00,640
really, really resistant to any
pests and caterpillars etcetera

516
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:05,240
if they're plant, if they are
growing naturally in the optimal

517
00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:08,880
conditions cause the alkaloids
repel the the pests.

518
00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:13,400
So yeah, the reason we test for
pesticides still is because it's

519
00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:16,440
on the river.
So any run off from a farm

520
00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:20,680
upstream that could happen.
We don't want that in, but you

521
00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:26,720
can tell more of an issue.
You know, for years everything

522
00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:29,680
we have comes from growers we
know and from land we spent a

523
00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:31,600
lot of time on.
And there's absolutely no

524
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:33,560
fertilizer, there's no
pesticides being used.

525
00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:36,800
But of course, it's nice to also
see that and see, you know, 62

526
00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:37,920
different.
Pesticides, right?

527
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:41,200
Tested for with none of that.
And that is something that we

528
00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:43,840
really do, you know, are kind of
concerned about in the kratom

529
00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:47,160
industry is as it grows and
there are more of these large

530
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:52,800
kratom plantations, there is
more likelihood that pesticides

531
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:54,520
are being used.
And this is something that we

532
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:58,080
saw time and time again where we
would go to different kratom

533
00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:01,960
farms and be walking around and
we can speak a bit of Indonesian

534
00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:04,440
pretty decently and talking with
people in Indonesian and talking

535
00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:07,040
to the growers and the workers
and you know, asking them, are

536
00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:09,800
you guys, what are you using
here in terms of fertilizers,

537
00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:12,160
pesticides, insecticides,
herbicides, etcetera.

538
00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,720
And the answer is, you know,
always Oh no, no, it's totally

539
00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:18,040
natural.
We're not using everything here.

540
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:21,720
And it happened time time again
that then, you know, you're

541
00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:25,480
launching around the kratom
fields and finding these packets

542
00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,720
on the ground and there's like
empty pesticide packets all over

543
00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,680
the place.
And so that's something that I

544
00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:33,440
think people should really be
careful for.

545
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:36,600
Just consume kratom.
That's, you know, that's been

546
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:39,360
tested for pesticides, I would
say is the safest thing because

547
00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:42,440
of course pesticides can be used
responsibly, right?

548
00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:45,760
They they, they can be, they can
be used in the correct way, in

549
00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:47,480
the correct dose for the correct
crop.

550
00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,960
A concern we have though, is
that, you know, the people that

551
00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,680
are potentially applying these
pesticides on some of these big

552
00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:59,040
commercial cotton plantations
are not trained in agriculture

553
00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:02,560
necessarily and, and how to use
these and are are also

554
00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:06,680
potentially not using the
correct pesticide for a plant

555
00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:09,040
that you're ingesting the actual
leaf, right?

556
00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:11,280
So you might have something
that's intended for the outside

557
00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:13,720
of an orange or in the outside
of a banana peel.

558
00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:16,120
That's, you know, part of the
fruit that's not actually

559
00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:20,400
consumed, but that then could be
being applied to the leaf close

560
00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:22,720
to harvest.
And that's not, you know, being

561
00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:25,240
washed off and everything like
that.

562
00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:28,200
So I think for us, that's been,
you know, the really valuable

563
00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:31,200
thing of spending tons of time
on the ground and actually like,

564
00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,840
you know, going around and
seeing things first hand and

565
00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:37,040
also having a lot of funny
instances where you're walking

566
00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:39,240
through someone's field and
they've told you it's all

567
00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:41,280
organic.
And then we love to just, you

568
00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:44,400
know, eat fresh Kitam leaves to
try and get an idea of of the

569
00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:47,040
quality and the potency.
And I've had, you know, multiple

570
00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:49,320
instances of people stopping us
then and being like, actually,

571
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:51,360
wait, wait, we need to wash
these like we did use I.

572
00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:53,560
Don't.
Know we did use some stuff on

573
00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:56,760
there so.
Oh wow, interesting.

574
00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:00,720
To your initial question about
the old trees that put this

575
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:05,320
photo behind us of 50 year old
trees, maybe I'll send you a

576
00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:07,960
photo that if you can put it up
on the screen for.

577
00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:10,440
Absolutely.
Really cool to share.

578
00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:12,960
But yeah, Cratom trees get
absolutely massive.

579
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:19,800
And on our latest trip to Borneo
last year is when we found these

580
00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:23,240
50 year old cratom trees with
our friend who is, you know,

581
00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:25,240
telling us he knew these really
old trees.

582
00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:27,920
And with his grandfather, we
went out into the into the

583
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:30,760
jungle, like bushwhacking
through this, like really deep,

584
00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:34,400
deep, intense jungle.
And they took us to a little

585
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:36,800
group of massive old Kratom
trees.

586
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:40,200
And we were asking about the age
of them and went to the biggest

587
00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:42,680
one.
And the grandfather said, like,

588
00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:47,240
oh, I, I don't know exactly how
old it is, but I'm 70 and this

589
00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:49,000
one's been here since I was a
child.

590
00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,640
So it must be, must be about the
same age as me.

591
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:55,880
So that was a really cool
experience.

592
00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:58,480
And then we're asking them like,
oh, would it be possible for you

593
00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,120
guys to get us a harvest from
these trees?

594
00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:06,040
And they're saying like, yeah,
we'd love to, but we can't get

595
00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:07,920
up there like that, just too
big.

596
00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:12,679
So they we talked about it with
them for a while and they said,

597
00:34:12,679 --> 00:34:16,000
OK, if you guys can get us some
operas equipment so we can climb

598
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:19,360
up there safely, then we'll make
you harvest.

599
00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:23,960
And so that harvest that you
had, the 50 year old wild is

600
00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:26,560
actually the first ever harvest
from those trees.

601
00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:30,840
And yeah, the very first time
those leaves were ever picked.

602
00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:33,880
So that's something we're
really, really happy to have

603
00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:38,280
been able to facilitate is the
safe harvest of these incredible

604
00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:43,440
trees, which we're now onto our
second harvest of them because,

605
00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:44,920
yeah, they grow back really
fast.

606
00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:48,960
The leaves just pop back out.
That's incredible.

607
00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:53,040
So you provided the tools they
needed so they could go harvest

608
00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:57,160
off of this really old tree that
had, I guess, not been harvested

609
00:34:57,160 --> 00:34:59,960
before, right?
Or at least not recently because

610
00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:02,240
of its age and how big it is.
Yeah.

611
00:35:02,240 --> 00:35:05,560
Yeah, it's interesting.
So a lot of the kind of big

612
00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:09,800
Kratom plantation style things
or Kratom farms, you might see

613
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:14,960
it's gonna look kind of more
like an apple orchard size with

614
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:19,280
kind of small shrubby, maybe
apple tree sized Kratom trees.

615
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:23,320
So that's a lot of what you see.
And you can travel the, the, the

616
00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:26,200
banks of the Kapowitz River for
for hours and hours and hours

617
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:30,240
and see for Tom growing either
wild or planted along those

618
00:35:30,240 --> 00:35:31,520
riverbanks.
And a lot of them are quite

619
00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:34,640
small because they, you know,
it's a, it's a, it's a growing

620
00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:38,000
industry and people are just
kind of starting to, to, to

621
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,520
plant more and to try and meet
the demands and everything.

622
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,960
And then we can also, you know,
send you a photo of, yeah, the

623
00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:48,960
15 + 2025 year old wild trees
that we get a lot of our, our

624
00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:50,760
leaves from.
And those ones, they'll make

625
00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:54,320
ladders, you know, with bamboo.
And it's like a 3040 foot tree

626
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:57,160
and it can be safely climbed
with a ladder and you can get up

627
00:35:57,160 --> 00:36:00,400
there.
But yeah, these ones were, were

628
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:01,880
a whole, a whole different
story.

629
00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:05,120
And it's incredible to, to see
that, you know, Kratom trees

630
00:36:05,240 --> 00:36:09,560
when they're 507080 years old,
you, you can't wrap your arms

631
00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:11,560
around them.
They're full-sized, enormous

632
00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:15,080
trees, 80 feet tall.
They get absolutely huge.

633
00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:18,800
And it's, it's such a, such a
beautiful thing to, to go, to go

634
00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:21,600
out and manage to find one in
the wild and, and to hear about

635
00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:25,200
also, you know, the villagers
knowing about it and, and, and

636
00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:27,320
having it, you know, be part of
their, the legacy of their

637
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:30,440
village and everything.
What was it like the first time

638
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:33,520
you try to leaf from one of
those from that particular tree

639
00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:37,080
that that was that old?
Well, we weren't able to try

640
00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:39,400
the, the leaves from that
particular tree when we were

641
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:43,360
actually, because we were there
last winter and we didn't have

642
00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:45,280
the, the, the, you know, the
harnesses and the arborist

643
00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:46,800
equipment to actually get up
there at the time.

644
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,520
So we, we, you know, found some
old ones that had fallen from

645
00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:52,320
the tree on the ground and tried
those, but we weren't able to

646
00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:54,240
try any from this particular
Grove.

647
00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:59,400
We found maybe about, you know,
6 to 12 of these massive trees

648
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:02,720
that were like, you know, in the
50 to 70 plus year old range,

649
00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:07,280
but of course really do just
enjoying, enjoy chewing kratom

650
00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:09,400
leaves fresh.
People always ask about that,

651
00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:13,760
'cause we have kratom trees
growing in our shop in Portland

652
00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:17,760
here we have a number of them.
We used to sell them.

653
00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:21,880
We stopped because we we ran out
and also the care is quite

654
00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:23,480
challenging.
But we have a number of cartama

655
00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:25,960
trees growing in our shop.
So people are always asking

656
00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:28,240
about that and asking if they
can pick one and and two.

657
00:37:28,240 --> 00:37:29,880
On that, that is so cool.
I bet.

658
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:33,080
What's the experience like?
I've always I've heard people

659
00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:34,480
talk about, you know, chewing
the leaf.

660
00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:38,560
I've never done it.
I'm I'm sure it's a different

661
00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:40,200
experience, right?
I mean, not completely

662
00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:41,880
different, but I imagine it's a
bit different.

663
00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:46,680
Yeah, so it's a lot more bitter.
What you do is you pull the stem

664
00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:51,680
out and then we'll just like
roll it and then chew it and

665
00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:57,160
then you can spit out the the
green or the the leaf matter.

666
00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:01,720
It's a lot more bitter.
So if you find the the powder

667
00:38:01,720 --> 00:38:07,640
bitter, then you're in for a
treat with the but it's really

668
00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:11,280
wonderful because one of the
main applications of kratom in

669
00:38:12,240 --> 00:38:14,680
in Southeast Asia is because
it's so hot and people are

670
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:18,120
working so hard, you'll often
see like craton trees growing

671
00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:22,680
next to the rice paddies.
So people pick craton, chew it

672
00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:24,240
whilst they're working in the
rice paddies.

673
00:38:24,240 --> 00:38:27,280
And it really helps to deal with
the heat and the exhaustion of,

674
00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:30,400
you know, working in this
intense heat and humidity.

675
00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:36,400
So it feels very appropriate to
be consuming the kratom straight

676
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:39,920
from the tree, kind of kind of
like the experience of picking a

677
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:42,800
cherry straight from the Cherry
Tree and eating it there and

678
00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:45,960
then always tastes better than
when it comes from from the

679
00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:49,800
store.
The only issue is we've done a

680
00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:52,600
lot of, you know, shooting
videos and and photos and

681
00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:55,800
interviews with the farmers and
the growers out like that and

682
00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:59,200
having so many takes where we
have, you know, a big chunk of

683
00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:03,560
kratom leaf stuck in our tea
trying to film an interview and

684
00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:06,840
and having a lot of footage
ruined by chewing kratom leaves

685
00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:09,160
in the field.
So that is that is the one

686
00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:11,400
downside.
I would say, yeah, I do.

687
00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:14,800
I do think given the choice,
brewing up a little cup of

688
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:17,840
kratom tea is is the way to go,
but.

689
00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:20,200
Right.
Don't have videos online of your

690
00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:23,160
trips over there.
Not so much, no.

691
00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:24,920
We have like.
A you can check out our, our

692
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:27,040
Instagram.
So we do have some stuff on our

693
00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:31,640
Instagram and then a little bit
on our website in the journal

694
00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:33,560
section.
You can see some of our, our

695
00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:36,080
sources and everything there and
in, in the shop and the product

696
00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:38,760
page.
And then we do have tons and

697
00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:41,840
tons and tons hours and hours
and hours of video and interview

698
00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:45,200
and footage and things that, you
know, quite honestly, we really,

699
00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:49,000
really, really need to get to
editing and releasing to the

700
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:52,000
public because we have stuff
going back to 2019, Malaysia,

701
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:54,400
Thailand, Indonesia, all of
these trips.

702
00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:59,840
We are really small team and we
are working in the shop, we're

703
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:02,200
working in the warehouse, we're
packaging.

704
00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:06,440
We are, yeah, a very small team.
And admittedly, you really need

705
00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:08,800
to get to actually releasing
some of these things to the

706
00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:10,400
public.
I would love to see some of

707
00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:11,840
that.
You probably have enough to make

708
00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:13,960
a documentary it sounds like
with the amount of.

709
00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:19,120
Food, yeah, definitely.
But yeah, hopefully we'll be

710
00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:22,840
releasing more fairly soon.
Yeah, if you I mean, if you want

711
00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:25,240
to send me a couple of clips
that I, that I can, you know, my

712
00:40:25,240 --> 00:40:28,640
kratom gals live stream, I play
all kinds of different videos I

713
00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:32,040
come across online, usually from
YouTube and TikTok.

714
00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:36,520
And I love when I uncover videos
on YouTube from Indonesia of

715
00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:39,280
like the trees, the farmers and
stuff.

716
00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:42,360
We don't see it all the time,
but it's super interesting and

717
00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:44,520
we always love watching footage
like that.

718
00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:47,320
So if you ever have like even
just you know, just something

719
00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:51,120
where it's just like a clip that
I could share, that'd be really

720
00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:54,680
cool because we all love it.
We love seeing like, where does

721
00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:57,560
this come from?
Yeah, absolutely.

722
00:40:57,600 --> 00:41:00,320
I will definitely find some some
things to send over to you.

723
00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:03,240
Yeah, definitely we have shorter
form, you know several minutes,

724
00:41:03,240 --> 00:41:05,760
5 minutes, things like that,
like prepared that it would be,

725
00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:09,560
it would be fun to watch and.
Absolutely, I'll definitely link

726
00:41:09,720 --> 00:41:11,880
in the show notes to your
Instagram.

727
00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:13,960
Is are y'all just using
Instagram at this time?

728
00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:17,000
Is there any other social media?
Yeah, we mainly just use

729
00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:21,000
Instagram because, well, for
people who are in Portland, OR,

730
00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:25,800
we have our brick and mortar.
And so that's really a space of

731
00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:29,240
education as much as it is our
store.

732
00:41:29,240 --> 00:41:33,400
So that's actually the ideal
place to come into if you want

733
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:36,360
to see more about kratom and see
a kratom tree.

734
00:41:36,360 --> 00:41:39,800
And actually at the moment,
we've got our kratom trees of

735
00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:43,960
flowering for the very first
time and they're currently four

736
00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:44,920
years old.
And.

737
00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:48,280
Yeah, all of them has just
sprung out a bunch of really

738
00:41:48,280 --> 00:41:53,800
beautiful yellow flowers.
So yeah, we have our seeds of

739
00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:56,720
our first for Tom from Portland,
OR.

740
00:41:57,520 --> 00:41:59,920
That is so neat.
You definitely got to send me

741
00:41:59,920 --> 00:42:03,360
pictures of that, that is.
Awesome, you can you can put.

742
00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:05,320
Because you don't see that very
often.

743
00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:08,600
We just see the leaves on the
tree, but not usually the flower

744
00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:10,880
all that much.
Yeah, beautiful, beautiful

745
00:42:10,880 --> 00:42:13,760
golden yellow flowers.
And the interesting thing as

746
00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:15,680
well is that they smell
phenomenal.

747
00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:21,320
It's like this incredible
Jasmine floral scent.

748
00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:25,520
And in Borneo in Southeast Asia,
you'll have the katam fields.

749
00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:27,960
And when many of the trees are
flowering, you also get tons of

750
00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:32,320
honey bees that come and collect
the pollen from the kratoms.

751
00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:35,680
In theory, you could have, you
know, kratom pollen, honey.

752
00:42:35,880 --> 00:42:39,680
But yeah, when they were just
emerging in our shop last week,

753
00:42:39,680 --> 00:42:43,040
it smelled phenomenal in there.
And yeah, it's really fun to

754
00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:45,440
see.
We we planted these kratom trees

755
00:42:45,440 --> 00:42:50,800
from sea weeds that that we got
from out in the wild in Borneo.

756
00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:56,400
And it was quite a process to to
grow them in cold climate in

757
00:42:56,400 --> 00:42:58,120
Portland.
And it's a really interesting

758
00:42:58,120 --> 00:43:02,320
plant to try and take out of its
native habitat and to get to,

759
00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:06,000
you know, acclimatize and
succeed growing indoors.

760
00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:09,480
But yeah, as I mean, he was
saying now they're on their on

761
00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:14,240
their fourth year and are, are
pretty massive 1215 foot for Tom

762
00:43:14,240 --> 00:43:17,720
trees that we soon need to to
give a little trim cuz they're

763
00:43:17,720 --> 00:43:20,400
starting to hit the, the roof of
our of our shop.

764
00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:23,240
Yeah, the ceiling.
Wow, that is wild.

765
00:43:23,480 --> 00:43:26,360
I have a question.
So at what point in your journey

766
00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:30,160
with kratom did you decide, hey,
let's do this as a business?

767
00:43:30,160 --> 00:43:32,920
Like, let's actually go be a
part of this industry.

768
00:43:33,800 --> 00:43:37,240
Well, that's interesting.
Yeah, Cuz we had, we actually

769
00:43:37,560 --> 00:43:41,240
initially had absolutely no
interest in opening a company

770
00:43:41,240 --> 00:43:44,640
and we were just very attached
to our traveling lifestyle and

771
00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:47,000
enjoyed and loved living out in
Indonesia.

772
00:43:48,600 --> 00:43:51,640
And it was actually a lot of
hard work on behalf of the

773
00:43:51,640 --> 00:43:57,240
farmers who were telling us
everyday you guys like we have

774
00:43:57,320 --> 00:44:01,400
spent so much time out here and
know so much more than anything

775
00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:03,920
you'll find online.
You guys should really start a

776
00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:06,480
company.
And they worked on us for a long

777
00:44:06,480 --> 00:44:09,960
time.
And we're also really keen to be

778
00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:12,720
in partnership with us because,
you know, we had a great

779
00:44:12,720 --> 00:44:14,920
relationship with them and so
and there's a lot of trust

780
00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:19,400
between us.
So yeah, they eventually pushed

781
00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:24,080
us to to taking that path, which
really could have gone either

782
00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:29,240
way for us.
But yeah, it was not that long

783
00:44:29,240 --> 00:44:32,400
after our first research trip
that we decided that we would

784
00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:37,280
start Jaya and move back to the
US in the middle of COVID,

785
00:44:37,320 --> 00:44:40,360
actually to get started on the
project.

786
00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:45,120
Well, that was a challenging
time to to be doing anything.

787
00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:48,520
Wow, that is interesting.
Did you decide on a storefront

788
00:44:48,520 --> 00:44:53,240
first or just being an on online
retail like like which came

789
00:44:53,240 --> 00:44:57,440
first online or or store?
Well, so we decided recently at

790
00:44:57,440 --> 00:45:01,000
first that we wanted to do a, a
brick and mortar store and then

791
00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:05,280
naturally online was was an
obvious addition to that.

792
00:45:06,040 --> 00:45:07,440
But what?
Yeah, but we were really excited

793
00:45:07,440 --> 00:45:10,480
about doing a brick and mortar
store was the ability to

794
00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:14,280
actually just spend time with
people face to face talking

795
00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:18,520
about our research, showing them
photos, showing them the Katam

796
00:45:18,520 --> 00:45:21,720
trees.
And yeah, really having our shop

797
00:45:21,720 --> 00:45:25,080
be a space of education.
And of course it's a business,

798
00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:29,840
but that's kind of first and
foremost what it is for us is a

799
00:45:29,840 --> 00:45:33,840
education space, almost like a a
Museum of Katam, you could say.

800
00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:37,240
And we're located on a really
central St., a very busy St.

801
00:45:37,240 --> 00:45:40,120
here in Portland.
And we are constantly getting

802
00:45:40,120 --> 00:45:44,760
people coming in that either
know kratom and are really,

803
00:45:44,760 --> 00:45:47,400
really excited about it and are
into that.

804
00:45:47,400 --> 00:45:50,440
But we also get tons and tons
and tons of people that are

805
00:45:50,440 --> 00:45:55,080
passing by and either they have
no idea what it is and they're

806
00:45:55,080 --> 00:45:57,640
just fascinated to see a
business exist that they don't

807
00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:00,840
have any clue what's being sold.
So coming in with no knowledge

808
00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:03,840
of the plant and we can educate
them on it and give them proper

809
00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:07,000
real information about this
plant and dispel a lot of the

810
00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:10,000
myths and not be selling all
kinds of crazy strains and

811
00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:11,360
things like that that don't
exist.

812
00:46:12,760 --> 00:46:14,480
And then we but then we also get
a lot of people that come in

813
00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:16,440
that that have heard about
khatam, but I've heard about it

814
00:46:16,440 --> 00:46:19,680
in a negative way.
And so for us, that's kind of

815
00:46:19,680 --> 00:46:22,360
like our personal mission and,
and what we love doing is, is

816
00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:24,560
having people come in and be
like, yeah, you know, I've seen

817
00:46:24,560 --> 00:46:28,760
this in head shops and gas
stations or I saw a news article

818
00:46:28,760 --> 00:46:31,040
about this.
And I, you know, I'm kind of

819
00:46:31,040 --> 00:46:33,120
skeptical about it.
I have a lot of questions about

820
00:46:33,120 --> 00:46:34,880
it.
Like maybe you can, you know,

821
00:46:35,360 --> 00:46:37,000
you can give me some information
about it.

822
00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:40,560
And so that's what we love about
having this ability to talk to

823
00:46:40,560 --> 00:46:43,600
people face to face and show
them, hey, this isn't a, a weird

824
00:46:43,600 --> 00:46:47,520
synthetic product or this isn't
any sort of, you know, yeah,

825
00:46:47,840 --> 00:46:49,680
this isn't some sort of strange
drug.

826
00:46:49,680 --> 00:46:52,840
This is the leaf of this tree.
It has hundreds of years of

827
00:46:52,840 --> 00:46:55,360
traditional usage.
These are the communities that

828
00:46:55,360 --> 00:46:57,880
use it.
This is how it's used.

829
00:46:58,240 --> 00:47:01,600
These are the lab tests.
These are the alkaloids so on

830
00:47:01,600 --> 00:47:04,000
and so forth.
So I think for us, we, yeah, we

831
00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:05,400
have online and we have in
store.

832
00:47:05,400 --> 00:47:08,560
But it's, it's so nice the, the
experience you have with the

833
00:47:08,560 --> 00:47:11,320
physical business to just get
random people stumble across you

834
00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:16,920
and to, to get to, to get a
really in depth view of what

835
00:47:16,920 --> 00:47:20,160
Cortana is and, and, and then
share that.

836
00:47:20,160 --> 00:47:22,280
So that's what we really enjoy
ourselves.

837
00:47:23,280 --> 00:47:24,840
I think education is so
important.

838
00:47:24,840 --> 00:47:28,160
I love that y'all are big on
that and that you use your

839
00:47:28,160 --> 00:47:32,600
storefront and your website to
just share information to help

840
00:47:32,600 --> 00:47:33,840
people.
And there is so much

841
00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:36,080
misinformation.
That's why I have my weekly live

842
00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:39,320
stream, why I do the kratom
gals, because I can't get over

843
00:47:39,320 --> 00:47:42,000
how much misinformation and
propaganda is out there.

844
00:47:42,240 --> 00:47:46,320
And I feel like we've got to
talk about it, to turn it around

845
00:47:46,640 --> 00:47:50,320
and talk about like, OK, the
media got it wrong.

846
00:47:50,320 --> 00:47:52,720
Let's explain like what the
actual truth is.

847
00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:55,400
You just get people talking and
I just love that you're

848
00:47:55,400 --> 00:47:58,400
educating your community on on
kratom.

849
00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:01,480
Do people come in pretty often
that are just like you said,

850
00:48:01,480 --> 00:48:03,160
like they hear the negative
stuff.

851
00:48:03,320 --> 00:48:06,440
I'm sure they walk away going,
Oh my gosh, this, this, this is

852
00:48:06,440 --> 00:48:09,240
an amazing plant after hearing
you'll talk about it, but are

853
00:48:09,240 --> 00:48:11,360
there a lot of people that do
just like they're just hearing

854
00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:13,680
so much misinformation.
They come in your store to learn

855
00:48:13,680 --> 00:48:14,880
more.
Yeah.

856
00:48:14,880 --> 00:48:17,200
So I guess there's one
particular instance that comes

857
00:48:17,200 --> 00:48:21,400
to mind in that regard of this
woman coming in a little

858
00:48:21,400 --> 00:48:24,760
flustered and she comes in and
she's like, my daughter's been

859
00:48:24,760 --> 00:48:29,520
taking for Tom to and she says
it's helping her get off, get

860
00:48:29,520 --> 00:48:31,200
off some.
I think it was some opioid that

861
00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:34,600
her daughter had dependence on.
She said, oh, she's been using

862
00:48:34,600 --> 00:48:37,440
it and she says it's helping,
but I've read some sketchy stuff

863
00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:41,160
online and I'm not like, I'm not
really sure what to think.

864
00:48:41,240 --> 00:48:45,240
And so can you guys tell me
about it and answer my questions

865
00:48:45,240 --> 00:48:48,160
so that I can, you know, make
sure my daughter's making right

866
00:48:48,160 --> 00:48:50,040
choices.
And so we're able to sit down

867
00:48:50,040 --> 00:48:54,360
with her and explain to her the
insurance and outs of kratom and

868
00:48:54,360 --> 00:48:59,480
how it's used and what to look
out for and, you know, what to

869
00:48:59,480 --> 00:49:02,840
think about when trying to buy
kratom and how to, you know,

870
00:49:02,840 --> 00:49:08,000
stay away from extracts or 7
hydroxymetrazine and keep her

871
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:12,320
on, you know, reassure her and
also educate her on what her

872
00:49:12,320 --> 00:49:14,680
daughter was taking.
She was not able to find good

873
00:49:14,680 --> 00:49:17,800
information online.
And yes, she walked away really

874
00:49:17,800 --> 00:49:21,040
reassured and was like, hey, I'm
going to send my daughter here

875
00:49:21,040 --> 00:49:22,560
because you guys know what
you're doing.

876
00:49:22,560 --> 00:49:24,560
And so it's that kind of
instance.

877
00:49:24,560 --> 00:49:26,160
It really, you know, it's very
uplifting.

878
00:49:26,160 --> 00:49:29,800
It's very nice to be there for
people who need somebody to

879
00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:34,080
answer questions.
And then other other times it's

880
00:49:34,080 --> 00:49:38,520
been, you know, people's people
whose partners or family members

881
00:49:38,520 --> 00:49:42,760
have some stigma against kratom.
And so one of our customers will

882
00:49:42,760 --> 00:49:46,640
bring in that person just
pretending like it's all just

883
00:49:46,640 --> 00:49:48,120
going to stop by and pick up
some kratom.

884
00:49:48,120 --> 00:49:51,400
And then we'll explain to them
about the plant and the whole

885
00:49:51,400 --> 00:49:54,120
history and everything.
And you know, it's happened a

886
00:49:54,120 --> 00:49:57,720
few times that that our customer
will come back and be like, oh,

887
00:49:58,440 --> 00:50:02,000
my wife actually tried Kratom
after after visiting you.

888
00:50:02,040 --> 00:50:05,080
And now they're cool with it and
they're fine with it and they've

889
00:50:05,080 --> 00:50:08,560
understood really what I see in
it and what's what I'm going

890
00:50:08,560 --> 00:50:11,200
for.
So yeah, it's really important

891
00:50:11,200 --> 00:50:14,240
to be able to speak to people
face to face and have that

892
00:50:14,240 --> 00:50:17,120
trusting relationship.
And especially when you can show

893
00:50:17,120 --> 00:50:20,560
people the tree and just be
like, this is it, you know, and

894
00:50:20,560 --> 00:50:24,080
it's just just a leaf that's
dried and ground down and

895
00:50:24,080 --> 00:50:27,400
that's, that's the end product.
Yeah.

896
00:50:27,800 --> 00:50:31,240
And and share your thoughts
about leaf versus extracts.

897
00:50:31,240 --> 00:50:32,400
What are y'all's thoughts on
that?

898
00:50:33,080 --> 00:50:37,160
Well, we only work with with
crushed leaf kratom, with powder

899
00:50:37,160 --> 00:50:42,080
kratom, with whole leaf kratom.
I think for us, if you can have

900
00:50:42,720 --> 00:50:49,240
really fresh, really potent
kratom, that's I wouldn't say

901
00:50:49,240 --> 00:50:51,040
necessarily enough, but you
know, like that's that's what we

902
00:50:51,040 --> 00:50:56,040
focus on, right, is just seeing
how good you can get this

903
00:50:56,040 --> 00:50:58,680
natural product.
Of course I think extracts have

904
00:50:58,680 --> 00:51:00,600
a have a place for certain
folks.

905
00:51:01,920 --> 00:51:05,080
Full spectrum extracts.
Not saying 7 Odoximetrageny and

906
00:51:05,080 --> 00:51:07,600
that's a whole different topic
cuz that is not kratom.

907
00:51:07,920 --> 00:51:11,640
Yeah, that the whole leaf kratom
has so many different alkaloids

908
00:51:11,640 --> 00:51:15,280
that have wonderfully balanced
by nature and that the body

909
00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:18,600
really knows how to receive and
what to do with it and it's

910
00:51:18,600 --> 00:51:24,400
accompanied by these this like
plant fibre and polyphenols and

911
00:51:25,840 --> 00:51:28,680
just.
A very high antioxidant

912
00:51:28,680 --> 00:51:30,640
concentration in the whole leaf
itself.

913
00:51:30,640 --> 00:51:33,160
So I think that that's, that's
one thing.

914
00:51:33,360 --> 00:51:35,840
You know, I studied history from
a historical standpoint.

915
00:51:35,840 --> 00:51:39,480
When people come in and they ask
me about safety and kratom,

916
00:51:39,480 --> 00:51:40,600
right?
We can't make medical

917
00:51:40,600 --> 00:51:42,720
recommendations.
I'm not a doctor.

918
00:51:42,720 --> 00:51:46,040
Kratom is not FDA approved.
I can't give you medical advice,

919
00:51:46,040 --> 00:51:47,840
right?
What I can tell you is from a

920
00:51:47,840 --> 00:51:51,160
historical standpoint, from
communities we've met in

921
00:51:51,160 --> 00:51:55,000
Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia,
etcetera, that kratom has been

922
00:51:55,000 --> 00:51:59,200
used in its whole leaf natural
form for hundreds of years,

923
00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:01,920
right?
And we've personally spent time

924
00:52:01,920 --> 00:52:06,040
with somebody who is a Thai
gentleman who was 91 years old

925
00:52:06,040 --> 00:52:09,440
and had been consuming kratom
since I think the late 40s when

926
00:52:09,440 --> 00:52:13,600
he was like 16 years old and
it'd been consuming kratom every

927
00:52:13,600 --> 00:52:15,560
day.
We'll send you a photo of this

928
00:52:15,560 --> 00:52:20,720
guy 'cause he was absolutely
just the most bright eyed, kind,

929
00:52:20,720 --> 00:52:24,200
amazing 91 year old, an amazing
health of that that we'd ever

930
00:52:24,200 --> 00:52:26,640
met.
But anyways, from a historical

931
00:52:26,640 --> 00:52:29,960
standpoint, we see that Cortam
in its natural form has hundreds

932
00:52:29,960 --> 00:52:31,760
of years of safe traditional
usage, right.

933
00:52:32,200 --> 00:52:35,760
We can't say the same thing
necessarily for like super

934
00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:40,400
high-powered extracts and, and,
and how, you know, the body

935
00:52:40,400 --> 00:52:44,000
handles that if it's just a, a
particular, one particular

936
00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:47,080
alkaloid and all that.
So, so just for just general

937
00:52:47,080 --> 00:52:49,600
kind of safety reasons and just
because that's what we

938
00:52:49,600 --> 00:52:52,200
specialize in, we just work
with, with holy for Tom.

939
00:52:52,200 --> 00:52:54,680
But obviously recognize, you
know, people use the plant for a

940
00:52:54,680 --> 00:52:57,880
lot of different reasons and and
you know, there's a, there's a

941
00:52:57,880 --> 00:53:01,040
space for everything depending
upon, you know, what the

942
00:53:01,040 --> 00:53:03,760
application is and, and the
need, right?

943
00:53:04,800 --> 00:53:06,280
Yeah.
And then what are y'all thoughts

944
00:53:06,280 --> 00:53:10,040
on the whole strange thing?
You know, companies all say

945
00:53:10,040 --> 00:53:12,840
different things about it as
consumers are like, OK, make it

946
00:53:12,840 --> 00:53:14,920
make sense.
One group says one thing,

947
00:53:14,920 --> 00:53:17,080
another group says the other.
What are y'all thoughts on that?

948
00:53:17,560 --> 00:53:20,080
Well, so I think that that there
were two main questions that we

949
00:53:20,080 --> 00:53:22,800
wanted to answer when we went
out and we got this research

950
00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:24,640
funding to study Cortana
cultivation, right.

951
00:53:24,640 --> 00:53:27,960
So the first one is what's up
with batching consistency?

952
00:53:27,960 --> 00:53:31,440
Why are there great batches and
then not great batches, right?

953
00:53:31,640 --> 00:53:34,800
And batches that do very little.
So what's going on with the

954
00:53:34,800 --> 00:53:36,600
batching consistency?
How can we solve that?

955
00:53:36,960 --> 00:53:41,040
And then secondly, yeah, what's
happening with strains and a lot

956
00:53:41,040 --> 00:53:43,320
of these topics that are very
contentious and there's a lot of

957
00:53:43,520 --> 00:53:45,280
just conflicting information,
quite simply.

958
00:53:46,560 --> 00:53:49,000
But yeah, so katam strains
really do not exist.

959
00:53:49,000 --> 00:53:51,840
There is just one type of katam
tree growing fundamentally.

960
00:53:52,120 --> 00:53:55,480
I think one of the most kind of
funny and evocative stories of

961
00:53:55,480 --> 00:53:59,440
that was when we first went out
and we first arrived out in the

962
00:53:59,440 --> 00:54:02,040
middle of Borneo.
And we're with these, you know,

963
00:54:02,040 --> 00:54:04,160
some of the first katam farms
that we were on.

964
00:54:04,560 --> 00:54:08,680
And we're talking to these old
Indonesian guys that were the

965
00:54:08,680 --> 00:54:11,040
katam farmers there.
And we're saying like, so, OK,

966
00:54:11,040 --> 00:54:14,040
so tell me about your land here.
Tell me what's going on.

967
00:54:14,040 --> 00:54:16,520
What what are the different
strains you're growing?

968
00:54:16,520 --> 00:54:17,680
You know, what do you have
growing here?

969
00:54:17,680 --> 00:54:20,120
What do you have growing here?
Like, you know, give us a tour

970
00:54:20,560 --> 00:54:24,120
of, of your operations and these
old Indonesian, you know, kratom

971
00:54:24,120 --> 00:54:29,000
growers looking at us very
confused, like silly foreigners.

972
00:54:29,000 --> 00:54:31,320
What are you talking about?
Like, this is an old kratom

973
00:54:31,320 --> 00:54:32,600
tree.
And they're like, yeah, those,

974
00:54:32,880 --> 00:54:34,680
those are our neighbors kratom
trees.

975
00:54:34,680 --> 00:54:37,280
And that's a big one.
That's a small one.

976
00:54:37,560 --> 00:54:40,960
This one is flowering.
And this notion of there being

977
00:54:40,960 --> 00:54:44,240
different strains just
completely was, was was going

978
00:54:44,240 --> 00:54:47,400
over their head and they're.
Yeah.

979
00:54:47,400 --> 00:54:51,040
So you talk to the growers, the
people that are actually out

980
00:54:51,040 --> 00:54:54,640
there growing kratom and have it
in their villages and, and

981
00:54:54,640 --> 00:54:56,000
harvest it from the forest
there.

982
00:54:56,000 --> 00:54:57,280
There's not different strains of
kratom.

983
00:54:57,280 --> 00:54:59,960
It's all about how the leaf is
dried and cured.

984
00:55:00,120 --> 00:55:04,000
You can roast it into a red.
You can do varying levels of

985
00:55:04,000 --> 00:55:06,840
heat and light, humidity,
etcetera to create a much darker

986
00:55:06,840 --> 00:55:10,600
green or brighter green, more of
a tannish color for white.

987
00:55:10,600 --> 00:55:13,040
So there's differences in the
curing methodology and that's

988
00:55:13,040 --> 00:55:15,280
gonna oxidize and change some of
the alkaloids in the plant.

989
00:55:15,280 --> 00:55:17,800
It's gonna change the flavor,
it's gonna change the energy

990
00:55:17,800 --> 00:55:22,040
profile to a certain extent.
But so they will cure the

991
00:55:22,040 --> 00:55:23,680
leaves.
Different ways to create the

992
00:55:23,680 --> 00:55:27,920
red, white, green distinction,
but you're not gonna ever find

993
00:55:27,920 --> 00:55:32,760
cratom growers with this patches
Dragon and this is Elephant and

994
00:55:32,760 --> 00:55:35,640
this is Mangda and so on and so
forth.

995
00:55:35,880 --> 00:55:37,720
What you will find is different
phenotypes.

996
00:55:37,720 --> 00:55:39,680
So you will have occasionally A
photometry.

997
00:55:39,680 --> 00:55:44,240
You'll grow with a slightly
horned characteristic on the end

998
00:55:44,240 --> 00:55:48,880
of the leaf, and then some will
have slightly more white veins,

999
00:55:48,880 --> 00:55:53,200
slightly more red veins, and you
have this, You know, these

1000
00:55:53,200 --> 00:55:55,800
phenotypes.
However, what's really important

1001
00:55:55,800 --> 00:55:58,480
to bear in mind is that nobody
in their right mind is

1002
00:55:58,480 --> 00:56:01,680
separating leaves based on what
they look like because that

1003
00:56:01,680 --> 00:56:07,240
would just be an endless task.
So you can receive a photograph

1004
00:56:07,240 --> 00:56:10,520
or like see a photograph of a
kratom leaf that looks very

1005
00:56:10,520 --> 00:56:12,040
different from the next kratom
leaf.

1006
00:56:12,400 --> 00:56:16,880
But that doesn't mean that.
But I mean, that's just used as

1007
00:56:16,880 --> 00:56:19,800
a marketing ploy to encourage
people to buy more different

1008
00:56:19,800 --> 00:56:23,720
types with always encourage
people to, you know, try a few

1009
00:56:23,720 --> 00:56:28,160
different batches because they
might or green versus the red

1010
00:56:28,160 --> 00:56:33,600
might feel slightly different to
you or be more what you need.

1011
00:56:34,960 --> 00:56:39,400
But in there actually being, you
know, batches that are made of

1012
00:56:39,400 --> 00:56:44,960
just horned leaves or just white
veins or just red veins, and

1013
00:56:45,160 --> 00:56:48,640
that's basically unheard of.
Anybody who's going to put the

1014
00:56:48,760 --> 00:56:50,640
put the work in to make that
happen.

1015
00:56:50,680 --> 00:56:56,040
And we've been told in exactly
these words by folks is the more

1016
00:56:56,040 --> 00:56:59,240
strains that you offer, the more
people will buy.

1017
00:56:59,760 --> 00:57:04,400
So it's not a, you know, it's
just a marketing technique to

1018
00:57:04,920 --> 00:57:08,680
make people place, you know, or
in order for 10 different types

1019
00:57:08,680 --> 00:57:11,000
instead of just one or two or
three.

1020
00:57:12,800 --> 00:57:15,680
So that's really what we found.
And then you enter into a whole

1021
00:57:15,680 --> 00:57:20,200
another question when it comes
to the different regions.

1022
00:57:20,200 --> 00:57:27,200
So you'll see on the market, you
know, Malay, Thai, Indonesia,

1023
00:57:27,200 --> 00:57:30,960
Borneo, you see like all these
different names of locations or

1024
00:57:31,400 --> 00:57:37,960
Bali, there's really only kratom
coming out of Borneo in

1025
00:57:37,960 --> 00:57:43,880
significant amounts right now.
So even in we looked all over

1026
00:57:43,880 --> 00:57:46,400
Vietnam, could not find any
kratom growing.

1027
00:57:48,120 --> 00:57:51,040
You certainly don't have any
kratom coming out of Malaysia.

1028
00:57:51,040 --> 00:57:54,920
So Malay Malaysian kratom,
there's absolutely no way with

1029
00:57:55,200 --> 00:57:58,960
the, the, the laws currently in
Malaysia, there's certainly no

1030
00:57:58,960 --> 00:58:01,120
kratom being exported from
Malaysia.

1031
00:58:01,120 --> 00:58:03,000
So that's a big red flag.
We always tell people like

1032
00:58:03,000 --> 00:58:05,880
Malaysian kratom, Malay kratom,
there's no way.

1033
00:58:06,760 --> 00:58:08,360
And it's also not a different
tree.

1034
00:58:08,360 --> 00:58:10,600
It's the same exact tree they
have growing there having spent

1035
00:58:10,600 --> 00:58:12,960
having spent time there.
Also Thai kratom is a big one.

1036
00:58:12,960 --> 00:58:15,800
That's it's quite an interesting
topic now because since 2021,

1037
00:58:16,040 --> 00:58:19,440
kratom has fully legalized
kratom, which is which is

1038
00:58:19,440 --> 00:58:23,560
amazing, but they're still
working out a lot of the

1039
00:58:23,600 --> 00:58:27,440
licenses for export.
There's still very little kratom

1040
00:58:27,440 --> 00:58:29,160
actually being exported from
Thailand at the moment.

1041
00:58:29,160 --> 00:58:33,080
It's happening now, but prior to
2021, anything being sold is

1042
00:58:33,080 --> 00:58:37,120
Thai kratom was mislabeled
coming from Borneo.

1043
00:58:37,120 --> 00:58:40,800
There was no exportation of Thai
kratom prior to the 2021.

1044
00:58:40,800 --> 00:58:42,800
So that's one, you know, we
always tell people to be aware

1045
00:58:42,800 --> 00:58:45,440
of that.
Really, you know, 95% of the

1046
00:58:45,440 --> 00:58:48,440
world's kratom supplies coming
from from Borneo.

1047
00:58:48,560 --> 00:58:52,080
And there's a lot of confusion
even amongst the islands of

1048
00:58:52,080 --> 00:58:54,880
Indonesia, because you'll see
that Bali kratom is one of the

1049
00:58:54,880 --> 00:58:58,000
most common kratom strains being
grown.

1050
00:58:58,000 --> 00:59:01,960
And we've explored every inch of
Bali.

1051
00:59:01,960 --> 00:59:03,560
We've lived there for a long
time.

1052
00:59:03,720 --> 00:59:06,800
Can guarantee you the Bolognese
people do not have a kratom

1053
00:59:06,800 --> 00:59:09,760
culture.
There is no kratom being growing

1054
00:59:09,960 --> 00:59:13,320
in Bali whatsoever.
I imagine that, you know, it's a

1055
00:59:13,320 --> 00:59:17,520
more recognizable name than than
Kalimantan or Borneo or the

1056
00:59:17,520 --> 00:59:20,800
different regions of, of Borneo.
So maybe that's where it came

1057
00:59:20,800 --> 00:59:22,840
from historically.
Or, you know, it passed through

1058
00:59:22,840 --> 00:59:25,720
the port of Bali and, and, and
had a stamp on it from that.

1059
00:59:25,720 --> 00:59:29,200
There's different theories to
why it's such a ubiquitous

1060
00:59:29,200 --> 00:59:31,000
thing, but I always tell people
big red flag.

1061
00:59:31,160 --> 00:59:33,760
Either, you know, you're being
in a sled or somebody's

1062
00:59:33,960 --> 00:59:38,000
misleading you 'cause there's no
kratom coming from Bali.

1063
00:59:38,960 --> 00:59:42,080
That being said, you know, you,
it is, there's the, the kratom

1064
00:59:42,080 --> 00:59:45,480
tree and it's kind of like with,
with wine and grapes, you know,

1065
00:59:45,480 --> 00:59:48,120
you can plant that kratom tree
in a different region and

1066
00:59:48,120 --> 00:59:51,000
there'll be different minerals
in the soil, different water

1067
00:59:51,000 --> 00:59:53,560
quality, you know, maybe
different levels of, of shade

1068
00:59:53,560 --> 00:59:54,880
and sun.
There's all these environmental

1069
00:59:54,880 --> 00:59:59,560
factors that will influence the
the final end result, but it

1070
00:59:59,560 --> 01:00:03,240
does get quite muddied in that
there's a lot of kratom coming

1071
01:00:03,240 --> 01:00:06,240
from regions or, or countries or
areas that are not in fact

1072
01:00:06,560 --> 01:00:09,040
exporting kratom or don't have
it growing there.

1073
01:00:09,800 --> 01:00:12,040
It gets farther confusing
because you also have, you know,

1074
01:00:12,040 --> 01:00:16,400
Borneo is the international name
for, for the Borneo island.

1075
01:00:16,680 --> 01:00:20,880
Locals call it Kalimantan.
So you'll see sometimes Borneo

1076
01:00:20,880 --> 01:00:24,040
kratom being sold next to
Kalimantan kratom.

1077
01:00:24,400 --> 01:00:29,560
Next to Kapus Hulu Kratom, which
is a province within Borneo, and

1078
01:00:29,560 --> 01:00:32,120
then Jong Kong Kratom being sold
is another option, which is a

1079
01:00:32,120 --> 01:00:36,960
village within Kapus Hulu.
So it's bit confusing how you

1080
01:00:36,960 --> 01:00:40,840
would have a Kalimantan, A
Borneo, A Jong Kong, and you see

1081
01:00:40,880 --> 01:00:42,000
what I'm saying, where there's
these.

1082
01:00:42,680 --> 01:00:45,760
Yeah, y'all are so
knowledgeable.

1083
01:00:45,760 --> 01:00:48,200
I feel like I've gotten so much
smarter in this hour.

1084
01:00:48,200 --> 01:00:50,520
I've learned y'all are so good
with the education.

1085
01:00:50,520 --> 01:00:53,200
I've I've walked away learning a
lot today and I know the

1086
01:00:53,200 --> 01:00:55,280
listeners have too.
I really appreciate this.

1087
01:00:55,520 --> 01:00:58,920
I think we have to have you 2
back on again some time to to

1088
01:00:58,920 --> 01:01:01,400
just keep educating us.
Y'all are incredibly

1089
01:01:01,400 --> 01:01:03,280
knowledgeable and it's
interesting.

1090
01:01:03,280 --> 01:01:05,360
Y'all been there.
Y'all spent time there.

1091
01:01:05,360 --> 01:01:08,400
You've done so much research.
You know a lot.

1092
01:01:08,520 --> 01:01:10,960
And I, I love that and our
community loves that.

1093
01:01:10,960 --> 01:01:12,640
So thank you.
I really appreciate y'all

1094
01:01:12,640 --> 01:01:15,000
spending all this time with us.
I have one last question to wrap

1095
01:01:15,000 --> 01:01:18,640
up is say somebody's, I'm sure
you'll have this happen all the

1096
01:01:18,640 --> 01:01:19,960
time.
So somebody walks into the store

1097
01:01:19,960 --> 01:01:21,400
and they're like, I know
nothing.

1098
01:01:22,440 --> 01:01:24,720
Tell me what I need to know
about this plant.

1099
01:01:24,720 --> 01:01:27,640
And like, what do you, how do
you help somebody when they just

1100
01:01:28,000 --> 01:01:29,880
they're hearing about it, but
they don't know anything?

1101
01:01:32,120 --> 01:01:32,920
Go ahead.
Yeah, you're the one.

1102
01:01:33,680 --> 01:01:36,480
Well, we always tell people, you
know, reference the trees we

1103
01:01:36,480 --> 01:01:38,720
have growing in the shop and
say, you know, so kurtam is the

1104
01:01:38,720 --> 01:01:42,320
this leaf of this tree growing
from growing in Southeast Asia.

1105
01:01:42,680 --> 01:01:45,680
And leaf of the tree is is
picked and ground into a fine

1106
01:01:45,680 --> 01:01:49,160
powder like matcha consistency
and it can be consumed as a tea

1107
01:01:49,320 --> 01:01:52,480
or in capsules and talk about
the traditional usage of the

1108
01:01:52,480 --> 01:01:55,520
plant.
So we of course, yeah, we are

1109
01:01:55,520 --> 01:01:58,920
limited in that we can't talk
about its medical uses in store.

1110
01:01:58,920 --> 01:02:02,840
We can't talk about, you know,
give medical recommendation.

1111
01:02:02,840 --> 01:02:05,360
So we'll talk about how it's
used traditionally, that it's

1112
01:02:05,360 --> 01:02:07,400
used as an alternative to
caffeine.

1113
01:02:07,640 --> 01:02:11,760
Traditionally, it's used as an
alternative to alcohol for folks

1114
01:02:11,760 --> 01:02:14,440
to socialize and spend time with
each other and use for working

1115
01:02:14,440 --> 01:02:17,200
and productivity, as well as
part of traditional folk

1116
01:02:17,200 --> 01:02:19,480
medicine for a number of
different things.

1117
01:02:20,080 --> 01:02:23,960
And then give people, you know,
good dosage instructions.

1118
01:02:23,960 --> 01:02:27,680
So if they've never tried kratom
before, it's really important to

1119
01:02:27,680 --> 01:02:31,920
start with a really low dose to
see how your body reacts to the

1120
01:02:31,920 --> 01:02:34,760
plant.
And I think that that's one of

1121
01:02:34,760 --> 01:02:37,800
the things that's given people,
perhaps historically a negative

1122
01:02:37,800 --> 01:02:41,240
perception of kratom is that
it's a super common story that

1123
01:02:41,240 --> 01:02:43,760
people will come in and they'll
say, hey, like, I've tried

1124
01:02:43,760 --> 01:02:46,680
kratom a couple times in college
and my buddy gave me, you know,

1125
01:02:46,680 --> 01:02:50,520
a heaping tablespoon and I felt
super nauseous and I didn't like

1126
01:02:50,520 --> 01:02:52,040
it at all.
And I, I want to give it another

1127
01:02:52,040 --> 01:02:53,240
shot.
And I'm, I'm curious what you

1128
01:02:53,240 --> 01:02:55,360
guys are doing.
But, but I, I didn't have a very

1129
01:02:55,360 --> 01:02:57,760
good experience with it before.
And I think a lot of people see

1130
01:02:57,760 --> 01:02:59,760
it as the, you know, this leaf
with the tree.

1131
01:02:59,760 --> 01:03:02,280
Of course, you know, you can
take a big spoonful no problem.

1132
01:03:02,920 --> 01:03:05,960
So just communicating to people
that actually it's quite potent

1133
01:03:05,960 --> 01:03:08,600
and needs to be treated with
respect and to start with a

1134
01:03:08,600 --> 01:03:09,880
little bit.
You can always take more.

1135
01:03:09,880 --> 01:03:13,840
You can't take less.
And to really, yeah, to treat

1136
01:03:13,840 --> 01:03:16,720
the plant with respect and
consume a small amount and see

1137
01:03:16,720 --> 01:03:19,600
what's appropriate for you.
And then also just pointing out

1138
01:03:19,600 --> 01:03:22,760
to people some of the things to
look out for in the industry,

1139
01:03:22,760 --> 01:03:25,080
because we'll get a lot of folks
that are just visiting Portland,

1140
01:03:25,080 --> 01:03:27,840
traveling from, from other
States and all of that and just

1141
01:03:27,840 --> 01:03:29,960
telling them, hey, you can, you
can find us here online.

1142
01:03:29,960 --> 01:03:32,480
But if you're looking for Katam,
just make sure that there's a,

1143
01:03:32,840 --> 01:03:35,200
you know, there are third party
lab tests that you can access

1144
01:03:35,200 --> 01:03:37,680
and you can check for heavy
metal concentrations,

1145
01:03:38,040 --> 01:03:42,920
microbials, pesticides, all
those things that, that you, you

1146
01:03:42,920 --> 01:03:44,600
want to avoid.
As well as seeing that there's

1147
01:03:44,600 --> 01:03:47,960
good alkaloid concentration and
being able to do, you know, see

1148
01:03:47,960 --> 01:03:51,200
the exact total alkaloid
concentration of a batch and,

1149
01:03:51,400 --> 01:03:53,760
and know how potent it is.
You can measure your dose, you

1150
01:03:53,760 --> 01:03:57,720
know, based off grams or also
by, you know, milligrams of, of

1151
01:03:57,720 --> 01:03:59,600
active alkaloids as well.
So.

1152
01:03:59,920 --> 01:04:03,000
Always give new customers a
little tiny spoon that helps

1153
01:04:03,000 --> 01:04:05,720
them measure a very exact amount
every time.

1154
01:04:06,400 --> 01:04:08,960
And we think that's really
important is, you know, you tell

1155
01:04:08,960 --> 01:04:12,640
somebody or just try a small
teaspoon and then some people's

1156
01:04:12,640 --> 01:04:15,560
teaspoon is 3 times the size of
other people's teaspoon.

1157
01:04:15,560 --> 01:04:18,360
And it's a very uncontrolled
dosing.

1158
01:04:18,360 --> 01:04:21,880
So yeah, we're able to give
people a little wooden teaspoon

1159
01:04:21,880 --> 01:04:26,000
that allows them to have a very
exact dosage, but they know the

1160
01:04:26,000 --> 01:04:28,680
quantity every time.
And I think that's really

1161
01:04:28,680 --> 01:04:32,800
important for mindful uses to,
you know, make sure that you're

1162
01:04:33,600 --> 01:04:38,000
able to track your dosage and be
able to to take the same amount

1163
01:04:38,000 --> 01:04:39,840
every time so you get a reliable
result.

1164
01:04:40,560 --> 01:04:42,840
That is so great ocean and
yummy.

1165
01:04:42,840 --> 01:04:45,840
Thank you for spending time with
us and and enlightening us more

1166
01:04:45,840 --> 01:04:48,760
about this amazing plant.
We'll definitely get y'all back

1167
01:04:48,760 --> 01:04:51,160
on again sometime.
Thank you so much, Madeline.

1168
01:04:51,160 --> 01:04:54,120
It's been absolutely wonderful.
The hour's absolutely flown by.

1169
01:04:54,320 --> 01:04:57,200
It really has.
Thank you Madeline, it's been an

1170
01:04:57,200 --> 01:04:59,520
absolute pleasure.
And like I said before, we've

1171
01:04:59,520 --> 01:05:02,520
been following your work for a
long time and are really, really

1172
01:05:02,520 --> 01:05:05,840
so excited to be here and, and
discuss all these topics with

1173
01:05:05,840 --> 01:05:07,840
you.
And yeah, we'd love to continue

1174
01:05:07,840 --> 01:05:09,880
the conversation.
We always tell folks that come

1175
01:05:09,880 --> 01:05:12,400
in the store, we're like, OK,
stop us if you get bored because

1176
01:05:12,400 --> 01:05:15,200
we can talk about kratom topics
endlessly.

1177
01:05:15,200 --> 01:05:18,120
And if there's the two of us in
there, sometimes you get, you

1178
01:05:18,120 --> 01:05:21,120
know, multi hour conversation
and, and that's what we love.

1179
01:05:21,320 --> 01:05:24,720
So always happy to answer
questions and continue the

1180
01:05:24,720 --> 01:05:26,640
dialogue.
And again, thank you so much.

Emy & Oshin Profile Photo

CEO

We are the owners of Jaya Kratom - Specialty Kratom Dispensary. We have spent extensive time in the field studying kratom cultivation in Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. We specialize in small batch, single-origin kratom from communities we know and land we’ve spent time on.