The largest cacao farm in Hawaiʻi now belongs to Lonohana Estate Chocolate.
The Wahiawā-based company recently acquired 60 acres of actively growing cacao at Waialua Estate in June. It was part of a 151-acre parcel of land that Dole Food Company had recently put up for sale.
Lonohana now has five times more land growing cacao than it previously had.
CEO Seneca Klassen said the purchase was meant to keep Dole’s cacao orchards from being used for anything else.
“It became apparent, probably over two years ago now, that these properties were going to be marketed at some point in the near future. And they represent the largest cacao orchards in Hawaiʻi by quite a bit,” he said. “We just couldn't handle the possibility that they might get sold off and become something other than cacao orchards.”
Klassen said the Waialua orchard itself represents about 20% of the total land being used to grow cacao in Hawaiʻi — the only state in the U.S. where the crop is grown commercially.
Keeping orchards intact will help grow the state’s infant cacao industry, Klassen said. A U.S. Department of Agriculture report found that 129,000 pounds of cacao was harvested in the state in 2021, and was valued at just under $900,000. In comparison, the 2023 production value of coffee was $48 million, while that of macadamia nuts was $31 million.
“It's something we think has an enormous amount of promise and potential to be a really great diversified ag crop for Hawaii's future, because it doesn't just stop at the farm gate,” Klassen said.
He said Lonohana is also a chocolate maker and collaborates with others. That could mean a guaranteed market for the cacao being grown in the state.
“If we are successful here at Waialua … our hope is that that will become something of a beacon for other people to come and plant more cacao and do more chocolate and cacao projects. Because we really think there is a strong potential for this to develop into a really solid little industry that has a ton of benefit for Hawaiʻi,” Klassen said.
