Food Business Basics:
Getting Started and Finding Your Niche in the Specialty Foods Business
State of Hawai‘i Agricultural Services and Marketing Opportunities
An extensive list of extension services, federal programs, state and county programs, educational programs, distributors, and more.
On-Farm Food Safety Project
Need Help Creating a Food Safety Plan? The On-Farm Food Safety Project (OFFS) is a comprehensive national program that offers fruit and vegetable farmers, food safety professionals and agricultural extension specialists technical assistance to utilize and teach best practices in food safety. This website includes the bulk of these resources including a free online tool, based on a comprehensive risk based framework, which generates customized on-farm food safety plans based on user input. The tool is designed for use by small to mid-scale fruit and vegetable growers and provides a full set of record keeping tools to document their food safety program and to provide training to their employees.
Adding Value to Locally Grown Crops in Hawai‘i: A Guide for Small Farm Enterprise Innovation (PDF, 4.15 MB)
Because of the high cost of labor, land, and materials in Hawai‘i, family farms are only economically sustainable if they can produce high-quality products that are valued above cheap imports. This Guide helps growers add value to all aspects of their farm enterprise and offers resources for further developing their strategies.
LivePlan is a software program available for purchase to help small businesses develop business plans, track your business' progress, collaborate with business partners, link to QuickBooks, and more.
The Business Law Corps has a new online resource page that links to LLC templates, including various forms of operating agreements. Of course, it does not replace legal counsel, but the small business owner should be much better off starting with a decent template that is geared to Hawaii law.
Bplans offers resources to help small businesses develop business plans tailored to their unique operations.
FOOD BUSINESS BASICS: KAUA‘I, Summer 2013
Mahalo to everyone who attended the Summer 2013 workshop hosted by The Kohala Center, Whole Foods Markets, and Papaya’s Natural Foods and Café on Kaua‘i! Below are links to the various event presentations.
Food Business Basics: Getting Started and Finding Your Niche in the Specialty Foods Business (PDF, 116.1 MB)
Whole Foods Market: Local Producer Loan Program (PDF, 11.2 MB)
Whole Foods Market: Marketing and Branding (PDF, 32.6 MB)
Supplying Whole Foods Market in Hawai‘i (PDF, 4.8 MB)
FOOD BUSINESS BASICS: HAWAI‘I ISLAND and MOLOKA‘I, Spring 2013
Mahalo to everyone who attended the Spring 2013 workshops on Hawai‘i Island and Moloka‘i! Below are links to the various event presentations and resources.
Food Business Basics: Lou Cooperhouse Presentation (PDF, 12.6 MB)
Hawai‘i Island Farmer’s Guide to Accessing Local Markets (PDF, 4.3 MB)
Financial Resources Available for Hawai‘i Farmers (PDF, 1.2 MB)
List of Recommended Consultants (Hawai‘i):
The Laulima Center - (808) 887-6411
• Melanie Bondera, Rural Cooperative Development Specialist - mbondera@kohalacenter.org
• Nicole Milne, Agricultural Business Development Specialist - nmilne@kohalacenter.org
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) - Business & Cooperative Programs in Hawai‘i
• Chester Cabral, Programs Director - chester.cabral@hi.usda.gov
• Lori Nekoba, Business Programs Specialist - lori.nekoba@hi.usda.gov
• Denise Oda,
Business Programs Specialist - denise.oda@hi.usda.gov
Agribusiness Incubator Program, University of Hawai‘i - (808) 956-3530
• Steven Chiang, Director - schiang@hawaii.edu
• Erik Shimizu, Consultant - erikms@hawaii.edu
• Janel Yamamato, Consultant - janelnoy@hawaii.edu
Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture - (808) 973-9560
• Michael Opgenorth, Economic Development Specialist, Market Development Branch - Michael.L.Opgenorth@hawaii.gov
Hawai‘i Small Business Development Center - Hilo (808) 933-0776
• Aaron Brown, Senior Business Consultant - aaron.brown@hisbdc.org
East Hawaii Community Development Corporation 501(c)(3) - community@easthawaii.org
• Anthony Marzi, Executive Director - anthonymarzi@easthawaii.org
Pacific Food Technology
• Nina Tanabe,
Consultant - ntanabe@pfthi.com
Grif Frost, CEO, Hawai‘i Tea Growers Cooperative - griffrost@gmail.com
The Kohala Center and University of Hawai‘i Maui College sponsored and facilitated the workshops, which were made possible by a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Program grant. The East Hawai‘i Community Development Corporation also provided additional support.