Category Archives: Company News

What We’re Doing

Oil went over $119 per barrel yesterday. Everyone knows that this is not good. We have to take action now.

Here’s what we’re doing at the farm: I have written before about the hydroelectric project that we will soon start construction on. This will stabilize our electricity costs, which are now more than $13,000 per month. In addition, we have talked about making biodiesel from french fry grease.  In two years we will be energy self-sufficient!

We plan to let our workers charge their plug-in hybrids as a benefit of working for us.

And we will continue to offer our workers fruits and vegetables to supplement their diet. Because of rising oil costs and their effect on food prices, we feel a heightened urgency to provide our people with food to supplement their families’ diet.

I mentioned here before that I was very concerned because a couple of our workers were asking to borrow money from me for gas to come to work. When we announced that we were winding down our banana operations, I told the people about to lose their jobs that they were still welcome to come to the farm every Thursday and pick up fruits and vegetables with the rest of our workers.

Only two of the original workers did not come back to see about available work. But I am very happy to see that one of those two still comes by to pick up fruits and vegetables.

When Chef Alan Wong came by recently to do a kalua pig cookout on our farm, and we could not bring all of our workers to the cookout, Kimo made sure that we made a container of kalua pig for every one of our workers who could not attend. 

Kimo and I talk about the effects of rising gas, electricity, water and food prices on our workers. If we could, we would raise our prices so we could give all our workers raises. But in this day and age, retailers do not want to raise prices at all. So we are caught between high farming costs and sales prices that are not keeping up.

We have decided to raise pigs on the farm so we can make smoke meat and kalua pig to help supplement our workers’ diets. We will use our banana and tomato waste as pig feed.

Soon enough, we will also be raising fish and shrimp.

In addition to the banana, tomato, cucumber, lettuce, bell peppers and other odds and ends, we will be able to give our workers fish and shrimp within the year.

It is definitely not business as usual and it is important that we take care of each other.

The basic idea is that as oil prices rise by “x” percent, we need to figure out how to lower our cost of living by “x” percent. Sometimes it takes a bit of innovation, but it’s what we have to do. I think our workers hope that we can figure out a solution. We don’t want to let them down. 

Bananas

Kimo had a meeting with our banana workers who were to be the first laid off because of our plan to shut down our banana operation. Our next step was to talk to the workers in order to see who was interested in another job at the farm.

But the workers surprised us at that second meeting by initiating a conversation about whether it was possible to keep part of the banana farm in operation.

Our main problem had been that we could not get enough workers to keep the essential jobs on schedule. Under those conditions, and coupled with rising fertilizer and other costs, our results were low yields and poor production. But it became apparent that—with the people who were interested in keeping the farm going—we could keep a certain amount of the Williams bananas in efficient operation.

Kimo told me what took place at that second meeting and I immediately told him that if the workers were interested, we could close the apple banana fields and keep the best of the Williams banana fields in operation. Everybody agreed.

So now we are planning to continue some of our banana production in a new, streamlined mode. I cannot describe how impressed I am that the workers are interested in doing this. We’ll do all we can to make it work.

Big Changes at the Farm

There are some big changes around here that we’d like to tell you about. The following is a press release we just sent out:

Mauna Kea Banana Company Ends Banana Production

Pepe‘ekeo, Big Island, Hawai‘i – April 4, 2008 – After more than 30 years in the banana business, Mauna Kea Banana Company—which started out as Kea‘au Bananas—has announced it is closing down its banana operation.

The company will, however, continue to produce its Hamakua Springs Country Farms brand of hydroponic vegetables.

“We’ve had to make some hard decisions due to rising costs,” says President Richard Ha. “Everything has gone up, especially fertilizer.”

“The major thing on my mind right now is our workers,” he says. Nine workers are being let go immediately, and another 20 will see their jobs end in a few months when the final banana harvest is completed.

“To the extent we have other jobs available that they are suited for,” he says, “we will try to transfer them so they can stay at the farm. We are also talking to other banana growers to see if they have openings, and I am talking to the Department of Labor to see if they can help.”

“You know, we’re always trying to see where we need to be five and 10 years down the road,” he says, “and always concerned about the greater good. It’s painful, of course, but for the benefit of the larger amount of people, this is the way we need to do it.”

He plans to lease the former banana land to area farmers. “Part of our overall plan is to become more diversified in food products,” he says. “We anticipate supplying the local community, and the more different stuff we/they grow the better we can serve the community.”

He emphasizes they want to work with farmers who live in or near Pepe‘ekeo and can walk or travel a very short distance to work, so their travel costs are minimal as energy costs continue to rise. “We definitely want to be community-based,” he says. They can also help farmers market their products, though that is optional.

Farmers interested in leasing land can call Farm Manager Kimo Pa at 960-1058. “They’ll need to come and sit down with us and tell us their plans,” says Ha, “and we’ll see if it fits into our program. They will need to fit into our criteria of sustainability.”

Mauna Kea Banana Company is also expanding its hydroponics operation, which operates under the brand name Hamakua Springs Country Farms. Ha says they are in the process of adding 20 new planting houses for tomatoes and other produce. Hamakua Springs produces tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, green onions and other hydroponically grown vegetables, which are sold to Hawai‘i supermarkets and restaurants.

He explains that, by necessity, the company is adapting to the changing environment. “That is what is driving us, and it has to do with rising energy prices,” he says. Among other changes, they are currently in the process of developing hydroelectric power at the farm. “People that don’t adapt, well, others will replace them who will adapt. If we don’t change, we will be history.”

“I worry about our workers,” he says. “It’s the major thing on my mind. The only consolation is that the economy is still good. Jobs are available right now. If we waited too long, they’d go into a jobless market and that would be even worse.”

A founding member of the Hawaii Seal of Quality program, the award-winning Mauna Kea Banana Company (formerly Kea‘au Bananas) has been in business on the Big Island for more than 30 years. Through its Hamakua Springs Country Farms brand, the farm produces hydroponic tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, watercress, onions and more for Hawai‘i supermarkets and top hotels and restaurants. Mauna Kea Banana Company was the first banana farm in the world to be certified “Eco-OK” by the Rainforest Alliance. The farm was also one of six national finalists for the Patrick Madden award, a sustainable farming commendation given by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Building History

I asked John Cross, an executive of C. Brewer & Co., the sugar cane folks we bought our land from: “How old is that green shack on our property, the one located next to the old airstrip?”

He told me that the shack predated airplanes. In fact, the building was used to support mules that cultivated sugar cane in the old days. So this building is at least 55 years old. And best guess is that it’s been there for longer than 65 years. It was called Duggan’s Shack in the old days. But that’s another story.

A few months ago, we started thinking about what we could do with this old building. Trees and grass were threatening to cover the building completely and the roof had holes.

We didn’t know exactly what we would do with it, but we knew we had do something or we would lose a part of this land’s history.

First we thought about putting up a farm stand. Kimo decided to repair the most obvious problems, like holes in the roof, etc. We really liked the idea of doing a farm stand, since it was located right on the farm, but we worried there might not be enough customers to support the business. While we were thinking about it, Kimo made the necessary repairs and cleared the brush around the building.

About that time, my grandson Kapono and I started to participate in the Kino‘ole Street Farmers Market. We’ve been there for maybe six weeks now, and from that experience we both realized we didn’t think we could get enough customers to come to Duggan’s Shack. It’s off the highway and the area’s population is not large enough. Lose money.

But then the Alan Wong cookout came up and we offered to dig an imu and make kalua pig. Kimo decided to take that the opportunity to kalua enough so each of our employees could take home a container.

And right then we figured out what we can do with Duggan’s Shack in this new age. We will use it for company parties—where we will do an annual kalua, have fun and send everybody home with food. Perfect!

What’s New

Here at Hamakua Springs we are constantly trying new things.

• Last year we started growing lettuce hydroponically. It seemed like an easy thing to do, but we always expect the unexpected. And sure enough, we had insect, algae, bacteria, temperature, light, nutrition and heat problems.

At first we could not determine what was causing our problems. But because we had temperature, humidity, light as well as oxygen, nutrition and oxygen reduction potential meters we finally figured it all out.

We started with one box of lettuce, and now we are taking seven boxes to the Kino‘ole Street Farmers Market every Saturday morning and selling out.

After a year of experimenting we are finally happy with the green and red leaf lettuce.

• We are getting ready to start making biodiesel from waste vegetable oil. We will be working with Bridget Awong, General Manager of SODEXHO, the people who do food service for the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. We will get 100 gallons per week from them.

 

We plan to create just enough biodiesel for our farm’s tractors and delivery trucks. We don’t plan on becoming an energy company. We just don’t want to get caught in gas lines when there are supply interruptions in the future.

• We also plan to make biodiesel out of algae. The idea is to use our waste fertilizer to grow the algae, and use the electricity we generate from hydro power to automate the process. This makes sense to us. Picking up nuts from the ground or harvesting palm nuts from trees is too costly and much too labor intensive for our taste.

• We are currently in another expansion mode. We are constructing about 40 new hydroponics houses right now, where we will grow more tomatoes, lettuces and colored bell peppers.

We can do this because we have the growing end of it worked out now, demand is up, and we see a lot of opportunity to provide food for this island in an energy-efficient way in the near future.

The Law of Survival

As I’ve written before, I am increasingly worried about the fact that more than 70 percent of our food here in Hawai‘i is imported.

Recently, in the Hawai‘i Tribune-Herald, someone wrote that the Law of Comparative Advantage dictates that whenever we can purchase goods cheaper outside of Hawai‘i, we should. I majored in business, so I am aware of this law.

But first and foremost I am a survivor, and the Law of Survival is to “Always keep your options open.” And in order to keep our options open, we need to produce MORE food locally, not less.

The Law of Comparative Advantage is an intellectual exercise. The Law of Survival is, well, “the law of survival.”

And so this is our Law of Survival plan:

Hamakua Springs Country Farms is in the process of developing a hydroelectric plant. We will utilize water from a flume on our property, and then use that free electricity to replace that of the public utility. With our excess electricity, we plan to replace diesel- and gas motor-driven machinery with electric-driven vehicles. We also plan to use electric, motor-driven conveyors and other such labor-saving devices.

Then—by offering cheap electricity and cheap water, which we also have in absolute abundance—we are working on teaming up with farmers who specialize in products we do not.

We can offer technical expertise, in terms of disease and pest control, as well as technical and structural help in obtaining food safety certifications. And if these farmers meet our high standards, they can market their products with us under the Hamakua Springs brand.

In addition, we have a parcel of land on the highway where our farmer-partners will be able to sell their products in a farmers’ market-type setting.

We are actively working on these aspects of our “Law of Survival” in order to make our islands more sustainable in terms of food production.

In the State of Hawai‘i, what we need is for farmers to produce food on all islands at all elevations, both on the wet side of the island and the dry side. We need farmers to work together so that the whole is stronger than the sum of the parts.

We need to overcome the inertia of “it’s always been done this way.” And we need legislators to help us so we can act upon the Law of Survival, rather than intellectualize about the Law of Comparative Advantage.

At the Expo

June and I just attended the Hawaii Lodging, Hospitality & Foodservice Expo, which was held Wednesday and Thursday at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. It’s the largest trade event in the state.We were guests in the Armstrong Produce booth. Armstrong Produce is the largest produce distributor in Hawai‘i, and has its corporate headquarters on O‘ahu. Its Kula Produce operates on Maui, and on the Big Island it is known as Armstrong Produce Kona. They carry every conceivable variety of fruit and vegetable. They are also strong supporters of local producers.

 

Armstrong Produce passed out samples of numerous fruits, including Bing and Rainier cherries, golden kiwi, melons, Saturn peaches, white nectarines and others.

We anchored one end of their booth with our tomatoes. People were fascinated and eager to taste our unusual-looking tomatoes. We told them that we grow our heirloom tomatoes from varieties that are at least 50 years old, back when tomatoes were bred for taste rather than how pretty they looked and how far they could be shipped.

 

We told them the darker-colored tomatoes are called Purple Cherokee, the yellow with starbursts of red are Striped Germans and the little green ones are called Green Zebras. Our tiny Hamakua Sweets were a huge hit, and people dragged their friends back to taste them. We were not surprised, because we have seen this reaction time and again. The Hamakua Sweets are our favorites, as well.

We were guests of Armstrong Produce two years ago, too. Back then we noticed, and were surprised, when people told us they supported and were interested in buying locally grown produce. This time we noticed people were even more passionate about their support for locally grown food.

Underlying this sentiment are probably three recent happenings:

1. China’s food safety problems

2. Last year’s spinach safety problems, and

3. Wal-Mart’s industrialization of organic food. (Since large corporations started supplying Wal-Mart with organic produce from far away, people are wondering about the carbon cost of sourcing fertilizers from distant corners of the globe to grow organic crops, and then shipping that crop across the country to a Wal-Mart. This is causing the demise of the small family organic farm, the very ones that started the organic movement in the first place, and people don’t like this!)

People are really supporting locally grown food now. The sentiment to “buy local” is quite a bit stronger than it was two years ago. And the chefs are leading the way. It’s quite impressive and we are moving to be in step with this trend.

At the Expo, there were booths of all kinds—from food to laundry to patio umbrellas, to designer kitchen uniforms, to custom coffee machines that could compete with Starbucks in taste and variety. I was very impressed with the quality they can maintain.

Toward the end of the day, lots of people crowded around the wine and beer booths. There were even massage chairs that treated people with sore legs and backs from working or just walking around.

June and I enjoyed this event. It reinforced our belief that local consumers care about food safety and food security. We were pleasantly surprised to find that consumers are even more concerned than we expected. It gives us encouragement to press ahead in terms of food safety and food security issues.

Something New

The other day at the market I spotted something new and it really caught my attention. It was one of those plastic “clamshell” containers from Hamakua Springs and the label said “Vine Ripened Hamakua Gourmet Tomatoes.”

First, let me tell you that when it comes to Hamakua Springs produce, I qualify as a Frequent Eater. Long before I knew or worked with Richard, I discovered Hamakua Springs produce in the supermarket and it’s what I always bought. And since I’ve been working with Hamakua Springs, I’ve been lucky to have enjoyed more great produce—even some that is still in the experimental stages and not yet available in the markets, which is really fun to me.

And I’ve enjoyed a lot of the company’s delicious heirloom tomatoes, which Hamakua Springs has been producing for and selling to restaurants throughout the state. Really enjoyed them.

These clamshells I saw at the market have different combinations of heirloom tomatoes. I bought one with two small, deep red heirlooms and a large, broad, deep orange and yellow one that smells like sunshine and summer and green vines and a grandma’s garden. Inside it’s streaked with red, and its name is “Striped German.” They are Real Tomatoes, unlike the tasteless tomatoes you can buy in the stores—these are exceptionally delicious tomatoes—and that delights me.

The big one is sitting here in front of me as I write, and I’m planning how we’ll enjoy it. Maybe I’ll do what Richard likes to do with his beefsteak tomatoes: Refrigerate it for awhile, and then cut firm, sweet, delicious slices and eat them with a little Hawaiian salt.

We ate the two small red heirlooms with their deep red/purple flesh a couple days ago when we had people over for dinner. I cut them up and put them in a green salad. And even admidst all the pieces of carrot, cucumber, red bell pepper and sugar snap peas, the tomatos stood out. Biting into one meant getting a little burst of incredible flavor. Summer. Memories. (Did you all grow up eating tomatoes out of the garden?)

The big, fat and sometimes funny-looking heirlooms are great for cooking with, Richard has told me. Sometimes I chop them up and cook them in olive oil with some garlic and onion, and a little Hawaiian salt and lemon pepper, and then put that over pasta. That plus a tasty, quick salad and maybe a chunk of good bread makes an easy, delicious dinner, and I love when we eat like that. Healthy, light, good eating with natural ingredients, most of which come from ’round these parts.

I’m going to go put this burst of flavor in the refrigerator now, and all day I’ll anticipate having cold, delicious slices of sweet, ripe tomato with our dinner tonight.

Poi

While we’re on the topic of new things happening at Hamakua Springs, here’s something else coming up that is very interesting: The farm is planning to start growing taro and producing and selling poi.

Why poi? I asked Richard.

“You know when we had that last cookout, the big deal was the smoked meat,” he said. “That’s the sort of stuff we eat and like. We also like to eat poi. I feel like we’ve gotta go do it. There’s a poi shortage, for one.”

He stresses that the poi production, like everything else at the farm, will be taste-driven. “We really need to find out what taro makes a really good poi, and then we’ll grow that,” he said. “It won’t just be who happens to have some huli we can get. We’ll go with what we think is the best tasting. We’ve gotta make ourselves happy first and then go from there.”

Kalo
taro leaf photo by Macario

He plans to grow the kalo in the traditional wetland style, but will depart from tradition by pumping the water back up after it runs down through the lo‘i. “The water won’t just go into the stream,” he said. “We’ll have our own electricity and we can pump it back uphill. Using the traditional along with the modern.”

“Hawaiian style was all about sustainability,” he said. “If you weren’t sustainable, the race would perish. We’re still thinking along those lines today. I don’t see it as much different. We’re doing with what we have.”

I was fascinated when he told me this, and started to say something about how I’m sure the Hawaiians would have used a similar technology had it been available to them.

But then it occurred to me: They are. He is. Richard is Hawaiian (as well as Okinawan and Korean), and he is using the traditional style while adapting it to modern conditions. Bingo.

I asked Richard how far he planned to go with growing taro and producing poi, and he said it would be largely demand-driven. I thought about how many times I’ve stood, staring at an empty supermarket shelf where the poi would be if there demand didn’t far exceed supply. The demand is there. Like with the farmstand, I think this, too, is an exciting avenue for Hamakua Springs.

Stay tuned for more info. – posted by Leslie Lang

Farm Stand!

There is something interesting going on behind the scenes at Hamakua Springs and I talked Richard into letting me tell you about it.

They are fixing up a small building that has long sat empty on the road at the edge of the farm, and the plan is to open a farm stand there, probably around late August.

It will most likely be open on Saturday mornings, though everything is still in preliminary stages right now. Richard says the number one goal is to serve the farm’s neighbors in Pepe‘ekeo (though you are welcome, too).

On Fridays, you’ll be able to come here to the blog and see what produce will be available the following morning.

“It will depend on the season,” Richard told me. “I can tell you for sure that we’re going to try to do watermelons and melons during the off-season. Smaller, personal-size specialty melons, like the French Chrentais. That’s an orange-fleshed melon with a real sweet aroma you can smell through the skin.

“And pumpkins at Halloween, and I don’t know what else yet. This is all kind of new to us, so we are doing a lot of experimenting.”

He says they don’t intend the farm stand to compete with the supermarkets. In addition to selling “seconds” of bananas, tomatoes and other produce, they will test-market different, interesting produce there.

You’ll get to see (and buy) some of the fancy vegetables Hamakua Springs grows for and sells to chefs, but which aren’t available in the stores. Like really tiny baby lettuces, different-colored carrots and radishes and small eggplants and squashes that are great for throwing on the grill. Richard says they are tastier than some of what’s available at the market, and I can attest to that.

There will also be gift baskets of various combinations of produce.

“We’ll do what we do,” he says, “and develop it along the way. Who knows where it will go. It’s kind of exciting. I know that we’ll be very responsive to the people and what they want to see.”

Richard is very open to ideas as they think through the scope of the farm stand. “I’d like to hear what people think might be unique or interesting—something they’d like to see in a farm stand that’s not being done now, or a kind of product that’s not being produced now,” he says. “We’re just open to all kinds of suggestions.”

If you have ideas, you can comment here or contact Richard directly at “mkeabanana@aol.com.”

You’ll have to stop by the farm stand if only to have a look at the building, too, because it has an interesting history. It sits near the old airstrip, and Richard says they assumed it had been used to support the airplane operation, which the sugar plantations used to fertilize the sugarcane.

But he has since learned the building predated the airstrip, and thinking back, he remembered there were leather harnesses in the building when they bought the farm. It turns out the building was there to support mules, back when the plantations used to plow with mules.

We’ll update you here as plans develop. And if you have ideas and want to help shape the farm stand, let us know.

We’re almost halfway to our goal of sending Keaukaha Elementary students on field trips they otherwise won’t get to take. Click here.

– posted by Leslie Lang