PGR News from the Pacific

Posted 1:44 PM by Luigi

Tea in Hawaii

Pacific Business News (Honolulu), by Howard Dicus.

Hawaii farmers want to grow more specialty products that command premium prices the way Kona coffee does, and the next big thing could be tea.

The University of Hawaii is developing a signature tea that Hawaii can market the way it markets its speciality coffees, according to Andrew Hashimoto, dean of the UH School of Tropical Agriculture.

"It's already growing in our experimental station," he said. "We want something that is unique to Hawaii. Something comparable to Kona coffee that cannot be duplicated elsewhere."

Hashimoto said research is also being done on blueberries that could be promising for Hawaii. Many of the 80 faculty members at the agriculture college are working on such speciality products, goods that can command prices high enough to cover the higher costs Hawaii farmers pay for land, shipping, electricity and water.

"We're in a position where we have to have a product that people are willing to pay higher price for," said Andrew Hashimoto. "Then competition tries to do the same thing for a lower price. So you always have to be ahead of that market."

Hashimoto said UH plays a big role in the research and development necessary to keep that specialty edge, and has done so over the years with crops ranging from pineapples to coffee to macadamia nuts.

"The macadamia nut was brought here from Africa and Australia," Hashimoto said, "but over the years we've been recognized as having the best macadamia because of processing and breeding that was developed in Hawaii."

He said almost any plant from somewhere else, when planted in the tropics, has to be adopted for the growing conditions. Maui onions, he said, are similar to Vidalia onions but different growing conditions produce different characteristics.

Another route to profits for Hawaii farmers has been hydroponic vegetable, which grow faster than plants put in the ground.

Richard Ha, who has banana orchards in the Hamakua area 10 miles out of Hilo, diversified into hydroponic tomatos, cucumbers and lettuce.

"Hydroponic is basically soilless culture," Ha said. "For examples, to grow hydroponic tomatoes, we use chopped coconut fibers. You add water to it and it fluffs up. It's a good medium, it's sterile. In the case of lettuce, we use water as the media with nutrients in the water and no stuff in between."

It takes about 40 days to grow a head of lettuce that way, from seed to harvest, of which about two and a half weeks are actually spent in the hydroponic house.

Ha employs about 85 people. He sells his products to Alan Wong, Marilyn's Restaurant, Ihilani, Big Island Cafe and other restaurants and supermarkets under the brand name Hamakua Springs.



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Hawaii farmers want to grow more specialty products that command premium prices the way Kona coffee does, and the next big thing could be tea. The University of Hawaii is developing a signature tea that Hawaii can market the way it markets its speciality coffees, according to Andrew Hashimoto, dean of the UH School of Tropical Agriculture. "It's already growing in our experimental station," he said. "We want something that is unique to Hawaii. Something comparable to Kona coffee that cannot be duplicated elsewhere." Hashimoto said research is also being done on blueberries that could be promising for Hawaii. Many of the 80 faculty members at the agriculture college are working on such speciality products, goods that can command prices high enough to cover the higher costs Hawaii farmers pay for land, shipping, electricity and water. "We're in a position where we have to have a product that people are willing to pay higher price for," said Andrew Hashimoto. "Then competition tries to do the same thing for a lower price. So you always have to be ahead of that market." Hashimoto said UH plays a big role in the research and development necessary to keep that specialty edge, and has done so over the years with crops ranging from pineapples to coffee to macadamia nuts. "The macadamia nut was brought here from Africa and Australia," Hashimoto said, "but over the years we've been recognized as having the best macadamia because of processing and breeding that was developed in Hawaii." He said almost any plant from somewhere else, when planted in the tropics, has to be adopted for the growing conditions. Maui onions, he said, are similar to Vidalia onions but different growing conditions produce different characteristics. Another route to profits for Hawaii farmers has been hydroponic vegetable, which grow faster than plants put in the ground. Richard Ha, who has banana orchards in the Hamakua area 10 miles out of Hilo, diversified into hydroponic tomatos, cucumbers and lettuce. "Hydroponic is basically soilless culture," Ha said. "For examples, to grow hydroponic tomatoes, we use chopped coconut fibers. You add water to it and it fluffs up. It's a good medium, it's sterile. In the case of lettuce, we use water as the media with nutrients in the water and no stuff in between." It takes about 40 days to grow a head of lettuce that way, from seed to harvest, of which about two and a half weeks are actually spent in the hydroponic house. Ha employs about 85 people. He sells his products to Alan Wong, Marilyn's Restaurant, Ihilani, Big Island Cafe and other restaurants and supermarkets under the brand name Hamakua Springs. * Comments: Post a Comment	Archive October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 January 2010 RSS Feed Alternative feed Contact Tevita Something new: Agrobiodiversity Weblog: For discussions of conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources of crops, livestock and their wild relatives. 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