Chocolatier Seneca Klassen started Lonohana Estate Chocolate in 2009. The family-run farm has 5,000 cacao trees on 14 acres of old sugar cane land up on the North Shore.
Cacao beans are picked at peak ripeness, fermented, dried and transported to town for processing.
Klassen's factory, located at the old Kewalo Theater on Queen Street, houses state-of-the-art equipment, as well as vintage chocolate-making machines, some of which are over 100 years old.
"Doing any agricultural project in modern Hawaiʻi is challenging," Klassen said. "Chocolate has some advantages, in the sense that it's food that people are incredibly emotionally attached to, so you have some leverage."
The locally-grown and produced chocolate is available at Lonohana Estate Chocolate's retail store and tasting bar in Kakaʻako. Products can also be found online.
Factory tours are open to the public on Friday and Saturday.
This interview aired on The Conversation on August 9, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. This interview was adapted for the web by Emily Tom.
