Turning Local Crops into Lucrative Food and Beverage Startups
The new Wahiawā Value-Added Product Development Center rents equipment and space for small businesses to ramp up production.
Food and beverage startups that lack the space and equipment to get ahead have a new way to scale up production without outsourcing to the mainland.
The Wahiawā ValueAdded Product Development Center officially opened its 33,000-square-foot manufacturing and educational facility at the end of May. The center, a joint effort of Leeward Community College and state government, includes five kitchens, processing equipment, cold and regular storage, as well as spaces for packing, shipping, receiving, demonstrations and learning.
“The positive impact this center will have is tremendous,” says its manager, Chris Bailey. “The central theme of the center is education and incubation. I see this as a playground for (entrepreneurs to innovate) more and more Hawai‘i food and beverage products.”
Much of the technology at the facility is geared toward creating “value-added” products. “Adding value means taking an agriculture input – a fruit or vegetable coming from a local farm – and transforming it through some process,” says Bailey.
“This could be heating, chopping, boiling, blending or frying to turn it into something that you could command a higher price for.”
The possibilities are endless: Pineapples and passion fruit can be juiced and concocted into a cocktail mixer. Meat can be cut, marinated and dehydrated to become jerky. Potatoes can be peeled, sliced and cooked into potato chips with a variety of flavors.
“The facility’s equipment includes an industrial potato peeler that can knock out 50 pounds of potatoes in a couple minutes. For those that are processing sweet potato or ulu for chips or fries or whatever, this will save them hours of time,” says Bailey.
She Can Make More Tomato Jam
Mahina Akimoto Reppun, co-owner of Morning Glass Coffee + Café, says she plans to use the facility to create tomato jam.
“We save the ends of the tomatoes from lunch service, process them, freeze them and then we turn them into jam. So it’s a nice little exercise in minimizing our food waste by repurposing something to use it on the menu again,” says Akimoto Reppun.
Her company currently makes small batches in-house but is ready to scale up production.
“The jam is really popular, so it sells out fast. Right now it’s a little hard for us to keep up with the demand.”
Akimoto Reppun says the center is a stepping-stone for entrepreneurs who, for now, need the extra space and equipment.
“I think what people miss seeing is that the center’s an educational piece. It’s not the end all be all for manufacturing, but this is definitely a really great first step for people.”
State Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, whose district includes Wahiawā, was the catalyst behind the Wahiawā Value-Added Product Development Center and secured funding for it at the state Legislature.
“I’m always asking myself, what jobs can we create so people can stay and live in Wahiawā or any small town here that needs economic revitalization,” he says.
Dela Cruz believes the center will help unlock the tremendous potential of Hawai‘i’s food and beverage industry. “We’re talking about reversing the brain drain, making strides in economic development and helping agriculture.”
Many food and beverage entrepreneurs start operating out of their home kitchens and selling primarily to friends and family and at farmers markets. The equipment needed to grow beyond that is expensive and requires more space than most startups can afford.
The Wahiawā center rents that manufacturing equipment and space by the hour, as well as provide guidance to entrepreneurs so they can turn their side hustles into full-blown careers at a fraction of the cost of doing it on their own.
Fruits and vegetables with cosmetic imperfections like bruises or odd shapes are shunned by retail grocers, but Bailey says they can be just as wholesome and tasty as standard produce and “you can transform them into value-added products, whether it’s a hot sauce, jam, juice or ice cream. You can even have it dehydrated or freeze-dried.”
Produce that would have been tossed gets new life.
“This will help farmers because 40% of their produce are offgrades and don’t go to market. But now the farmer has the ability to sell more of their produce and make more revenue,” says Dane Wicker, deputy director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.
The Wahiawā center will help farmers sell their off-grade crops to entrepreneurs, who could then transform them into value-added products. Or the center could help those farmers to create their own value-added products.
“It’s an incredible opportunity for many of these small businesses to be able to learn how to use this equipment and then have it as a resource,” says Denise Yamaguchi, CEO and founder of the nonprofit Hawaii Ag & Culinary Alliance.
From Land to Market
Leeward Community College’s 12-week ‘Āina to Mākeke Program – meaning from land to market – works with students at whatever stage they’re at with their businesses, says LCC Chancellor Carlos Penaloza.
“So whether they still need to develop their own business plan, are at the point of marketing their product or mastering their product, we can help.”
Students, in a cohort of 15, learn how to scale-up kitchen recipes into ready-for-market products that can drive midsize food or beverage businesses. Graduates will then have priority access to the Wahiawā center and a free one-hour consultation with the staff.
Because of government subsidies and additional funding from organizations like the Hawaii Ag & Culinary Alliance, “we are able to offer up a lot of what we have at a very reasonable price,” says Penaloza.
Two cohorts graduated from ‘Āina to Mākeke last year, and Yamaguchi says “35% of those 29 businesses have already been picked up by major retailers like ABC, Foodland Farms and 7-Eleven.”
That proportion may rise now that cohorts have access to the center’s equipment.
But graduates aren’t meant to operate there forever, as the center needs to continuously make room for new entrepreneurs.
“It’s not going to be a viable career for any of these entrepreneurs if they don’t have the tools or resources to move on to the next stage,” says Dela Cruz. The program is designed to prepare them for eventually procuring their own warehouses and equipment.
And as Hawai‘i’s food and beverage industry grows, so will the network of support and partnerships, he says.
“For example, one guy who ended up building a warehouse had enough space to lease to other small businesses and they shared the facility together. So you start to see the spillover and effect of entrepreneurs now supporting other value-added entrepreneurs.”
All spots for the program’s third cohort are filled, but applications for the fourth will open online later this year.
Powering Up Hawai’i’s Exports
Value-adding processes often extend a product’s shelf life. A slightly under ripe banana will last about a week on the counter before it’s covered in brown spots, while an unopened package of freeze-dried bananas can stay good for years if stored properly, and six months to a year even after opening.
High-pressure processing is especially good at extending shelf life while preserving taste, texture, appearance and nutritional value because it doesn’t rely on heat.
“The HPP machine is really the crown jewel of the facility,” says Bailey. “You can fill that HPP machine with your bottles of juice to seal them up real tight. Then it applies pressure as tense as the bottom of the ocean, which kills pathogens. On average, it can extend the life of a cold-pressed juice type of product up to 30 times. That’s a tremendous upgrade.”
Long expiration dates make overseas exports more likely.
“Hawai‘i as a brand is incredibly well known. So if these value-added products are able to capitalize on that brand it will not just help our local agriculture industry, but our entire economy and strengthen Hawai‘i’s brand,” says Yamaguchi.
Dela Cruz’s long-term vision is having food processing facilities with educational programs on the Neighbor Islands, with the large Wahiawā center as the flagship. The first such facility, the Maui Food Innovation Center, opened in December 2022.
“What we don’t want to do is duplicate the same thing throughout the state if we can make a hub-and-spoke model work instead,” says Dela Cruz. “Leeward has the staffing to support other programs statewide.”
Learn more at www.leeward.hawaii.edu/wvapdc.