The processing function of Hawaiʻi Island's staple food crops value chain is crucial for adding value to raw agricultural products. Stakeholders, including HIAP members and agricultural producers, have emphasized the need for increased access to processing facilities, services, and equipment to capture more value-added profits at the farm level. This need was highlighted in a 2022 design charette held in Hilo, which focused on the development of The Food Basket's Agriculture Innovation Center at their planned Food Campus in Hilo. The following sections detail the processing capabilities and challenges for fruits, vegetables, and livestock on Hawaiʻi Island.
Fruits
The fruit processing sector on Hawaiʻi Island has significant potential for growth. There is a pressing need for localized, shared processing facilities accessible to small farms. Such facilities could include dehydrators, mills, high-pressure pasteurization units, commercial kitchens, flash freezers, and cold storage facilities. These facilities would enable small-scale farmers to engage in value-added production without the prohibitive costs of individually investing in processing infrastructure.
Challenges in this sector include high equipment and construction costs and complex permitting processes. The lack of readily available capital and the business risks associated with seasonal supply fluctuations further complicate the development of processing infrastructure. Despite these challenges, the potential benefits of improved processing capabilities are substantial. These facilities could help preserve surplus fruit during peak seasons, reduce waste, and create new product lines with longer shelf lives and higher market values.
Innovative processing techniques could open new market opportunities. For instance, developing fruit powders through advanced drying and milling processes could create shelf-stable products for the nutrition and natural foods markets. Similarly, extracting fruit oils and essences could meet the growing demand for natural flavors and fragrances in the cosmetics and food industries. Such value-added products could significantly increase the profitability of the fruit sector and help smooth out the seasonality of income for producers. The graphic below highlights the trends in new processing technologies.
Vegetables
Vegetable and melon processing on Hawaiʻi Island represents a largely untapped opportunity. Most vegetables are currently sold fresh, with limited value-added processing. Developing processing capabilities, such as vegetable powders and dried products, could extend shelf life and create new product lines. For melons, fresh-cut and packaged products could cater to the tourism and hospitality sectors.
Developing these processing capabilities requires investment in specialized equipment and adherence to strict food safety regulations. A unique challenge in vegetable processing is the need for facilities that can handle a wide variety of produce types, necessitating flexible processing solutions.
Livestock
Livestock processing is a critical bottleneck in Hawaiʻi Island's agricultural value chain. As of 2021, there were only two USDA-certified slaughter facilities on the island: Hawaiʻi Beef Producers in Pa'auilo and Kulana Foods in Hilo, with a combined capacity estimated at 15,000 head per year. This capacity is insufficient for the island's production, leading to the shipment of approximately 60% of the island's cattle to the mainland for finishing and processing.
