As the 20th century saw Kona coffee rise to international fame, Hawaiian cacao growers and chocolatiers are setting their sights on a similar trajectory for Hawaiian chocolate in the 21st century.
Danny Rubenstein, with more than 40 years of experience in advising food and beverage companies, believes that Hawaiian chocolate can achieve its own prestigious standing. “These specialty products are not something you eat every day. It may be a special occasion or just a little pricey, and so you treat yourself. Indulgence should be healthy. I believe in healthy snacking and healthy choices,” he notes.
What distinguishes specialty foods and beverages, such as Champagne, artisan cheese, Wagyu beef, white truffle, Kona coffee, and Hawai‘i chocolate, lies in several factors: the rarity of the product, the difficulty of cultivation, its notable place of origin, the quality of its ingredients, satisfactory processing practices, and, crucially, great taste.
“We’d like to see Hawai‘i become known as the Napa Valley of chocolate. Everybody that grows and makes chocolate here is part of that,” Rubenstein states, crediting Lawrence Boone, co-founder of Lonohana Estate Chocolate, with the Napa Valley analogy. Lonohana is one of the half-dozen local companies Rubenstein collaborates with.
Inspired by Napa Valley’s success in crafting award-winning wines and attracting millions of visitors through vineyard tours and tastings, Hawai‘i’s chocolate industry aims to produce exceptional chocolate bars while popularizing local cacao farm and chocolate factory tours.
Cacao trees are the source of the two main ingredients of chocolate: cacao and cocoa butter. Thriving in tropical regions roughly 20 degrees north and south of the equator, Hawai‘i stands out as the only U.S. state ideal for cacao farming.
Ken Melrose, owner of Primavera Farm in Kealakekua, highlights that his farm enjoys a “highly exceptional terroir” characterized by superior climate and soil quality.
The term “terroir,” mainly associated with winemaking, encompasses the complete environment influencing a product’s production. Dylan Butterbaugh, founder of Mānoa Chocolate, elaborates on the factors affecting chocolate flavor: genetics, terroir like soil and rainfall, and the fermentation process influenced by wild yeast and bacteria. Together, these elements create distinctive tastes.
Mānoa Chocolate, located in Kailua on Oʻahu, offers 11 single-origin chocolate bars made from 100% Hawai‘i-grown cacao. Some cacao beans come from individual farmers, while others are from a cooperative of small-scale farmers. The bars are named after their cacao sourcing regions: Nīnole, Kealakekua, Kona, and Hono‘ili from Hawai‘i Island; and Hale‘iwa, Kahalu‘u, Mililani, Ko‘olaupoko, Waimānalo, and Kamananui from Oʻahu. Kamananui, the company’s own cacao orchard located on the North Shore, is available in both 70% dark and milk chocolate, with other Hawaiian varieties offered solely in 70% dark.
Mānoa Chocolate’s bars provide unique tasting experiences. The Kealakekua bar has hints of strawberry, macadamia nut, and vanilla, while the Kamananui bar features notes of peach, caramel, and pomegranate. The Nīnole bar boasts flavors of lime, walnut, and brownie.
Melrose considers Kona cacao to be particularly fruity, complemented by warm, fudgy undertones and a clean finish. Simplifying the chocolate-making process, Melrose, who planted his first cacao trees in 2015, describes how tree-ripened cacao pods yield seeds encased in pulp. After being removed, these seeds undergo fermentation and drying processes to create cacao beans, which then embark on several more transformations before culminating in chocolate.
Melrose’s Primavera Farm achieved accolades at the Salon du Chocolat, the largest global chocolate exhibition, winning the award for best cacao in 2019 and best criollo, a rare cacao variety, in 2022. Notably, he highlights that Kona cacao has dominated three out of five chocolate festival awards for cacao beans in recent years.
Beyond selling chocolate under the Primavera Farm brand, Melrose supplies a substantial portion of his cacao beans to Mānoa Chocolate and Valley Isle Chocolate, who process his beans into branded chocolate bars.
In February, Melrose and Butterbaugh reached an agreement to significantly increase production capacity. “As a result, I’m boosting my production capacity. Dylan has been very supportive of craft chocolate and regional farms in Hawai‘i. The Kealakekua Bar he creates, made from my beans, is his best-seller,” says Melrose.
Butterbaugh describes the Kealakekua bar as popular among tasters due to its smooth, creamy, and chocolatey profile, making it appealing in contrast to some Hawaiian cacaos, which tend to be more fruity in flavor.
Enhancing the reputation of dark chocolate is also its associated health benefits. A 2011 review published in *Antioxidants & Redox Signaling* underscores compelling evidence that habitual consumption of dark chocolate offers significant health advantages.
While the local cacao and chocolate industry is budding, it hasn’t yet reached booming levels. Although cacao has not made the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture’s annual list of top agricultural commodities, the industry is witnessing growth in both cultivation and production.
Data from the 2015 Hawai‘i Cacao Survey revealed 25 reporting respondents anticipating cacao harvestings that year, with subsequent surveys demonstrating increased acreage and more producers gearing towards cacao cultivation. The 2023 survey reflected 41 respondents expecting to harvest cacao, estimating 172 acres of harvesting cacao trees statewide.
Early insights from the 2025 survey indicate an increase in planted cacao acreage, alongside more local processing of cacao beans into chocolate bars by vertically integrated “tree-to-bar” companies, which oversee each step of production from farming to market distribution.
Cacao refers to the raw fruit found within cacao pods, which can be transformed into cacao powder, while cocoa generally describes the powder derived from cacao under differing processing methods. The distinction lies in the roasting temperature: cacao powder is roasted at a lower heat, preserving a richer nutritional profile, while cocoa powder undergoes higher-temperature roasting, resulting in reduced fat and nutritional content.
Seneca Klassen, co-founder of Lonohana Estate Chocolate, established in 2009, highlights the farm’s commitment to utilizing the highest quality ingredients in all their products made from locally grown cacao. Lonohana offers a range of products from their North Shore farm and a chocolate factory and retail facility in Honolulu.
Klassen emphasizes transparency in sourcing and processes, aiming to establish a market that values ethical practices, fair wages, and high-quality chocolate, despite potential higher prices. “We grew up thinking chocolate should be cheap, but we’re creating quality products that foster meaningful support for everyone involved,” Klassen explains.
Most of Lonohana’s chocolate bars retail at $16 for just 2.3 ounces, a price significantly higher than mainstream brands, underscoring the company’s philosophy prioritizing quality over cost. Klassen elaborates on this vision, pointing out the contrasting implications of valuing cost over conscientious production processes.
Moreover, the broader chocolate industry faces challenges linked to unethical production practices. Major companies like Nestlé, Mars, Hershey, Lindt & Sprüngli, and Ferrero have been scrutinized for sourcing cocoa linked to human rights violations, including child labor and poor working conditions in West Africa, where a substantial portion of the world’s cocoa is produced.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, significant numbers of children are engaged in labor on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast and Ghana, with many facing exposure to hazardous conditions. A report by the World Economic Forum in 2020 emphasizes the stark difference in income, revealing the severe poverty in cocoa-producing regions compared to the minimum wage in Hawai‘i.
Klassen states, “Building a local, agriculture-based industry creates a spectrum of jobs across farming, manufacturing, sales, marketing, and retail. To do this responsibly in Hawai‘i’s economy, we need a value proposition that can adequately support everyone involved.”
With numerous cacao farms and chocolate manufacturers operating across the four largest Hawaiian Islands, many are providing farm and factory tours to engage with the community and promote local chocolate culture.
Butterbaugh believes that Hawai‘i’s chocolate industry is on the cusp of significant recognition. “We aim to create the best chocolate globally, and I believe we are doing better than most recognize,” he articulates, likening the current development to a nascent exploration into crafting premium wine before its potential was acknowledged.
image source from：hawaiibusiness
