Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Hawaii Chocolate

We are really excited by the idea of Chocolate in Hawaii. Not just any chocolate, but Hawaii grown chocolate. Did you know Hawaii is the only state that can grow chocolate? There are still only about 200 acres or fewer in production (making Hawaii one of the rarest chocolates in the world) but that number is increasing steadily. The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory in Kona was a pioneer in Hawaii Chocolate. Pam and Bob Cooper grow, harvest, ferment, dry and roast their own beans and process it into chocolate, all on their own farm. Waialua Estate on the North Shore of Oahu is the largest cacao farm in Hawaii with 25 productive acres. They grow, harvest, ferment and dry their beans then ship them to Guittard in California to transform it into chocolate on state of the art equipemnt not yet to be found in Hawaii. There are dozens of other small farms on Kauai,Oahu, Big island and Maui, ranging from about 2-5 acres in size. Our hope is that one day Hawaii will support an industry in chocolate like the Napa Valley has done with wine. Our own trees are thriving in Maui...watch for our chocolate in a year or two.