The founder
SAVAI‘I → PAGO PAGO
A matai who audits books for a living.
Tipa Wellness is led by Tofa Galumalemana Sualauvi H. Su‘a — raised in Savai‘i,
educated in Samoa, New Zealand and the United States, and a career internal auditor
and chief accountant who has spent decades keeping the books straight for the
Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa, the territory's Audit Office and
the Power Authority. He is also a matai — a high chief — and a lay preacher: a life
shaped by discipline, service and deep cultural roots.
The habit
A DAILY PRACTICE
It began as a habit, not a business.
Sualauvi's road into natural wellness started quietly: a daily habit rooted in
Samoan tradition, a herbal drink prepared from local plants. He found it restored
his energy, cleared his head and renewed his strength — and what began as one man's
personal practice soon became a calling.
The son this company is named for.
On December 13, 2023, Sualauvi's eldest son — US Airman Suatipatipa Iosefa Su‘a,
called Tipa — suddenly disappeared from home. The pain of that day reshaped the
family's purpose. A few years later, Sualauvi and his second-eldest son Saifoloi
founded Tipa Wellness together in honor of Tipa's memory and legacy: his discipline,
courage and service are the foundation this business stands on.
From grief came mission. From mission came movement.
The house
year to confirm
A kitchen in Petesa Tai, not a factory.
Every batch starts in a house in Petesa Tai, Pago Pago. The roots and spices are
simmered in small pots — never more than a few gallons at a time — and when a batch
runs out, the next one goes on the stove. There is no production line to keep running
and no warehouse to empty.
The recipe
year to confirm
Nine ingredients, and no substitutions.
Turmeric, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, olive oil, honey, lemon and
purified water. That is the whole list, printed on the side of every gallon exactly
as it goes into the pot — the same local plants and Samoan tradition Sualauvi's own
daily habit began with.
Why it's called Tasiaeafe.
On the gallon label the name runs together as Tasiaeafe; in the family's own
papers it's written Tasi ae Afe. The company name needs no explaining —
Tipa is the son.
WHAT "TASI AE AFE" MEANS and who chose it. This is the part
customers ask about most — worth getting in the owner's own words.
Bottled by the gallon, stamped by hand.
The finished brew is pasteurized, poured into gallon jugs, sealed and moved straight
into the chiller. Every jug is marked by hand with its batch date and best-by date
before it leaves the house, so any bottle can be traced back to the pot it came from.
The expos
first expo to confirm
Meeting Tutuila face to face.
Tasiaeafe is sold the way it's made — in person. The table has stood at the Alofau
SDA Health Expo and in the gym at Fagaitua High School, where people can taste a cup,
ask what's in it, and carry a gallon home the same day.
The record
permit date to confirm
Inspected, tested, permitted.
The American Samoa Government Department of Health inspected Tasiaeafe and the way
it's brewed, passed it, and issued the permit every batch is made and sold under.
The Scientific Research Organisation of Samoa tested the contents — herbs included —
and verified them safe and good for consumption. That places Tasiaeafe among the
few Pacific herbal drinks recognized by both government and science.
Where the brew house is headed.
Sualauvi's vision is written down and it is plain: to help families build daily
wellness habits that honor their heritage, strengthen their bodies and uplift
their future — American Samoa first, then the Pacific, then the world.
