Celebrating 8 years of Cooperation!

 

This year, we celebrate a major milestone—eight years of Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative serving local farmers and communities across the islands. It’s incredible how far we’ve come since starting with nine founding members in 2016 and how much we’ve achieved together through the cooperative model.

Over the past eight years, our co-op has gained over 170 farmers from Hawaiʻi Island, Maui, Oʻahu, and Kauaʻi. In the past year, our farmers harvested more than 400,000 pounds of local produce! This included an ʻulu (breadfruit) harvest of just over 133,000 pounds. Our members currently steward over 6,200 ʻulu trees across 250 acres of land, cultivated in agroforest and orchard settings, furthering our commitment to sustainable farming practices.

Our success is rooted in the cooperative model. By balancing community ownership, long-term benefits, and business viability, we’ve built a foundation that supports our farmers, strengthens Hawaiʻi’s food system, and prioritizes the wellbeing of the ʻāina (land). Our goal for the next five years is to continue building on this success, creating an economically sustainable social enterprise that uplifts both the land and the people.

We are deeply grateful for the dedication of our farmers, partners, and community members, who have made this journey possible. Mahalo nui loa for your support over the years. We look forward to continuing this journey together and what the future holds for Hawaiʻi’s local food movement!

Here’s to many more years of growth, resilience, and aloha!

With Gratitude,
The Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative Team

 

July 2023 to June 2024 Highlights:

August 2023 

We upgraded the Honalo Processing Facility’s freezer to more than double our storage capacity from 16 to 42 pallets, allowing us to increase our production and sales capacity.

 

September 2023

Our 7th annual member meeting was held at our Alae post-harvest facility in Hilo, pictured below.

October 2023

Hawai‘i Harvest of the Month & Ho‘opili ‘Ai Farm-to-School Program

• Distributed nearly 350 Farm-to-School Boxes for classroom and cafeteria use.
• Served nearly 90 schools across the islands.
• Project partners designed these boxes to increase access for schools to serve locally-grown foods to students and expand educational experiences about culturally appropriate foods. Crops included: ‘ulu (breadfruit), kalo (taro), ‘uala (sweet potato), and pala‘ai (kabocha/pumpkin).

Donate to Schools via Ho‘opili ‘Ai here.  Your donation makes this program possible, ensuring that Hawai‘i’s next generation learns about our islands’ indigenous staple food crops, nutrition, and the critical link between local agriculture and resilient communities.

 

November 2023

The ʻUlu Co-op was selected as the Hawaiʻi regional partner with The Nature Conservancy to expand regenerative agroforestry through technical assistance and funding. The co-op hires its first full time Agroforestry Specialist, Chris Kaʻiakapu.

Learn more about the Expanding Agroforestry Project here. 

December 2023

We partnered with the Wilcox Medical Center to bring Hawaiʻi-grown staples to patients and their families.

Photo above: Robin Lotu, Director of Food and Nutrition, Wilcox Medical Center with ʻUlu Mash and steamed vegetables.

March 2024

Our CEO, Dana Shapiro and Professor Noa Lincoln from UH CTAHR were invited to Philippines to exchange information about breadfruit production. Read Dana's blog about the trip here.

Photo above: Dana and Noa's family posing in front of the Philippines Department of Agricultural Reform office after giving a breadfruit presentation to the Dept. and stakeholders.

May 2024

The co-op joins Mana Up cohort 9, a Hawaiʻi-based accelerator program with the goal to create “strategic partnerships” to expand its network across various sectors and increase market opportunities for farmers. Learn more here. 

June 2024

We were invited to Hawaiʻi on the Hill in Washington D.C for a second year, met with state leaders, and showed off our newly-developed ‘Inamona MacNut ‘Ulu Hummus!

See our Instagram and Facebook for more info.

July 2024

Finished the year with a record 170 farmer members!

 

Celebrate our 8th Year serving nutritious Hawaiʻi-grown staples with the Puʻuwai Pack - only $29.95 + shipping. Puʻuwai means "a box or pack of wrapped vegetables or food." It can also be used to mean "heart" or a center of emotions—perfect for honoring our progress. 

Shop Now: Puʻuwai Pack - Hawaiʻi Care Package