With the current shortage of tobacco products in retail outlets in Apia, those who stand to benefit are local vendors who sell Kipi Samoa or locally grown Samoan tobacco.

Kipi Samoa sellers have a section at the Fugalei Market and are open Monday to Saturday. They roll tobacco leaves in newspapers and sell them for SAT$5.00 a roll. 

The sellers include 43-year-old Kolio Simone, who has been selling Kipi Samoa for over five years and hails from the village of Leauvaa. His local tobacco sales are his main source of income for his family and he can make good money, depending on the demand of local consumers.

“Last Saturday I earned about $400. It all depends on your buyers and it was really good that day,” he said. “You can earn a lot of money in this business. 

"This is a much healthier option to smoke than the ones that have too many added chemicals. This is all homegrown and it takes about three months for the crop to be ready before we can start harvesting.”

One can earn an average of $100 a day and on a very good day $200 or $300. However, since the previous weekend, and thanks to the tobacco products shortage in town, they were earning as much as $400-500 each day.

One vendor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that there are a lot of people who've switched to Kipi Samoa because it is locally grown. This explains why some of the vendors sell their tobacco leaves in buckets, and depending on the weight can fetch them prices of between $1000-2000.

A female vendor, who also sells at the Fugalei market, said her elderly customers prefer certain tastes of tobacco which usually comes from how early the growers harvest their crop. 

"The older people prefer a much weaker taste of tobacco which is not so strong whereas the younger ones are after the stronger and more bitter taste of the Kipi Samoa," she said

According to the vendors, foreigners who live in Samoa are some of their main customers, who also enjoy chewing the local tobacco leaves due to their bitter flavour.