Hawaii Cacao Trees

History of Hawaii Cacao

From presentation by:

H.C. ‘Skip’ Bittenbender
College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu

1800's

1850 Hillebrand introduced cacao into Honolulu (Foster Botanical Garden)
1890’s Crick and Hitchcock start plantings in Hilo, eastern Hawaii island

Early 1900's

1905 Hawaii Experiment Station (predecessor to CTAHR) made 3 acre planting near Hilo

1914 to 1918 - World War I

1914 Disrupted shipping raised world cocoa prices

1917 HI legislature asks, Hawaii Experiment Station says:

Target yield of 600 lbs/acre/ yr of dried seed
Make cocoa or chocolate to compete with low cost producer countries
Locate farms near sea level, in moist, sheltered areas of Hilo, Puna, Hana

Cocoa prices dropped after the war and interest waned in Hawaii

Late 1900's

1986 - 1992 Jim Walsh and Hawaii Cocoa caused renewed interest from his imported plantings (Belize and Phillipines) in east Hawaii. Several international chocolate companies were potential partners.

1992 Hodge Farm planted on one acre in Keauhou

1997 Hodge Farm bought by Bob and Pam Cooper. Processing plant was added to the orchard and Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory was born.

2000's

Small growers begin planting on all islands - 13 process their cacao beans through Bob and Pam Cooper

2000 Hawaii Gold Cacao Tree initiative started

2003 Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers organizes a cacao chapter

2004 Dole rejuventates its Oahu cacao under the direction of Michael Conway

Ongoing CTAHR Support

1986 CTAHR does first Cacao Industry Analysis

Projects funded to CTAHR:

Investigate diseases - blackpod, first found in Hawaii, seed infection prevented by 50C 15 min soak.
Investigate insecticides
Pesticide residue chemistry
Investigate herbicides

2000 CTAHR, USDA, and HARC (Hawaii Ag Research Center) begin evaluating and propagating cacao varieties in Hawaii.

This website is sponsored by Ecole Chocolat - Professional School of Chocolate Arts