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We are proud members of the

Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Association (HCCA)

For more information on the assocation contact: info@hawaiichocolate.org

This organization started with an informal the Hawaii Cacao Group and we are very excited to have the volunteer efforts morph into a more formal industry association with meetings every year. Check out the website for more information.

Hawaii Cacao Industry Group History before the HCCA was formed

2011 September Update (this is a very big PDF file)

2010 September Update

April 2010 Representative Corinne Ching's Resolution H.C.R 89 adopted! Little steps such as this one will help raise awareness of cacao in our State, and hopefully help it gain the momentum that it needs to become a major crop here in Hawaii.

2010 March Update

April 2, 2009 inaugural Cacao to Chocolate Newsletter released.

2009 Kona Cacao Production & Economics Document

Excel spreadsheet addendum to Production Document

December 13, 2009 a one day meeting was held to discuss the new white paper: The Economics of Cacao Production in Kona.

2008 Report from inaugural group meeting and subsequent April 2009 update

October 23, 2008 - A one day meeting on the future of cacao in Hawaii. There were over 25 stakeholders from across the Hawaiian Islands and the Mainland in attendance including growers, researchers, government and users (i.e. chocolate makers and chocolatiers). A report of the successful results of that full day meeting are available.

Hawaii Cacao Symposium, June 2005 - sponsored by Ecole Chocolat, this meeting brought together Hawaii cacao industry stakeholders for the first time. This became the Hawaii Cacao Industry Group.

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

Hoping for a sweet harvest

by Andrew Gomes, The Honolulu Advertiser, Monday, January 25, 2010

Hawai'i is far from attaining prominence as an origin of specialty chocolate the way Kona is known for coffee or Napa Valley is known for wine. But agriculture researchers are trying to give the fledgling local cacao industry a boost toward the lofty goal.

Researchers have identified 11 cacao trees they believe have optimal traits for chocolate production in Hawai'i, and intend to plant copies of the trees, which were replicated by grafting, at 10 to 15 test sites around the state.

The field testing planned for O'ahu, Maui, Moloka'i, Kaua'i and the Big Island is aimed at helping establish ideal trees that farmers can copy and plant in large numbers to maximize quality and volume of the fruit's seeds that are processed into chocolate.

"It's an exciting time," said H.C. "Skip" Bittenbender, a fruit specialist at the University of Hawai'i College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources who's leading the field trial work. "Once we find what we like, it won't be that hard to scale up."

A lack of quality plant stock is one of several major issues that has kept cacao farming far from fulfilling what many see as the potential to become one of Hawai'i's biggest crops, according to a recent report prepared for the Legislature by the state Department of Agriculture.

Despite Hawai'i being the only place in the United States with commercial cacao production, there are only a handful of cacao farmers with a combined 50 acres of trees, the report estimates. The largest grower, Dole Food Co., has about 13,000 trees on 20 acres in Waialua on O'ahu's North Shore.

Bittenbender estimates there are fewer than 30 farmers growing cacao in the state, and guesses there is closer to 100 acres of cacao planted.

The local field office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, which collects data on most crops grown in Hawai'i, doesn't track the cacao industry because it is so small.

The state Agriculture Department report, citing UH estimates, said there is potential for cacao farming to cover 315 acres to 3,000 acres.

ROOTS FROM 1850

Cacao, which is native to South America, was first planted in Hawai'i by German physician William Hillebrand in 1850, according to the state. Though long studied as a plantation crop, the big challenge has been making money from the plant, which is well suited to Hawai'i's climate but can be tricky to grow and requires expertise processing into chocolate.

Competing with low-cost producers in Africa, South America and other countries isn't possible because of Hawai'i's high land and labor costs. But chocolate from Hawai'i cacao has proven to be a gourmet product for which buyers pay premium prices. Added value also can be gained by local cacao farmers creating farm tours around the romanticized product.

Currently, local sales of dried cacao seeds — also called cocoa beans — are estimated at about $200,000 a year based on per-acre production estimates for 50 acres and a dry bean price of $2.47 a pound. Much higher sales are derived by farmers who process their seeds into chocolate for retail sale at prices at or above $40 a pound.

Bittenbender believes that seed yield could roughly double by growing high-yield trees. With higher yielding orchards covering 315 to 3,000 acres, Hawai'i cacao farming could be a $2 million to $34 million business annually.

At $34 million, cacao would have been the third-biggest crop in 2008 behind sugar cane at $44.2 million. As it was, macadamia nut was the third-biggest crop at $33.5 million followed by coffee at $29.6 million, according to the most recent National Agricultural Statistics Service data.

Bittenbender said cacao seed yield is important because cacao, like avocado, is an open-pollinated tree whereby new trees grown from seeds don't inherit exact traits of their parent.

All commercial cacao trees in Hawai'i were grown from seed, which Bittenbender said results in 80 percent of seeds for chocolate production coming from 20 percent of the trees in a typical orchard.

Initial test plantings of the selected trees are anticipated to begin at four or five sites on O'ahu in March, followed by plantings on other islands over two years. It will take four years for trees to mature and produce measurable results.

The Agriculture Department report discussed other impediments to robust industry growth, which include limited processing capacity and lack of an industry trade association.

A trade association would help share best practices and work on research, branding, quality standards, certification and other efforts. Cacao farmers in 2003 formed their own chapter within the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers association, but could benefit more if there were enough farms to support a separate trade group.

A major processing factory on O'ahu is viewed as another requirement for Isle cacao farming to flourish.

The only major processing plant in Hawai'i is The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory on the Big Island, which processes about 6,000 pounds of seeds a year.

Original Hawaiian Chocolate owners Bob and Pam Cooper got into the cacao business in 1997 when they bought a 6-acre cacao orchard with 1,350 trees in Keauhou. Since then, they have invested $1 million including loans and grants to establish the factory capable of processing 100,000 pounds of seeds a year.

The Agriculture Department said another factory on O'ahu would help foster industry growth. However, Dole has estimated that it would take at least 300 acres of cacao to justify construction of another factory.

There have been a couple of attempts to establish big cacao farms with a factory over the last couple of decades, but they have failed.

One effort was made by former Chicago advertising executive Jim Walsh, who obtained backing from Hershey Chocolate Co. and moved to Hawai'i in 1986 with a goal to establish the first commercial cacao farm in America.

But after years of work with varieties of cacao and initial success producing chocolate in 1994, crop losses led Walsh's Hawaiian Vintage Chocolate Co. to substitute foreign-grown cocoa beans for Hawai'i-grown beans in the late 1990s.

A state Agriculture Department investigation led to the disclosure, which somewhat tarnished the image of Hawai'i chocolate. Walsh's factory plan was never realized.

SMALL FARMS

In the absence of plantation-scale expansion, industry growth over the last several years has come from small farms, a few of which process their own cacao.

Bittenbender said advances over the last five years have made it economical to process cacao into chocolate on a small scale without specialized equipment, and fueled growth of Hawai'i cacao farming as a cottage industry.

Seneca Klassen, part-owner of a chain of chocolate cafes around San Francisco, earlier this month finished planting 14 acres of cacao seedlings in Waialua.

Klassen's plan when the trees mature in three to four years is to supply the cafes with chocolate and operate farm tours and retail sales under the name Kokoleka O Ka Aina.

"It's an exciting time to be involved with the crop, but there are a lot of challenges," Klassen said.

Kaua'i farmer Koa Kahili began planting cacao five years ago and harvesting his trees two years ago. Kahili's Garden Island Chocolate sells for $8 to $9 per 2-ounce bar. "They sell out faster than I can make them," he said.

Kahili said his problem has been finding land to lease for expanding his farm. He believes the availability of suitable land is a bigger obstacle to the industry than producing higher-yield plants.

To expand Garden Island Chocolate, Kahili encourages other farmers to grow cacao and will supply them seedlings. He offers to process cocoa beans from other farmers in trade for chocolate.

The Coopers on the Big Island do something similar, offering to supply cacao seedlings to anyone, with an agreement to buy the cocoa beans. The Coopers buy beans from about 15 growers.

Still, convincing people to grow cacao, expecially those without farm experience, is tough. "The idea of growing chocolate is romantic, but it's farming," said Pam Cooper. "Farming isn't easy."

 


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