Hawaii tropical shipments growing at Hula Bros.
Hawaii tropical shipments growing at Hula Bros.
Hawaii is rapidly increasing its shipping of tropical fruit to the U.S. mainland, according to Susan Hamilton.
Ms. Hamilton and her husband, Bob Hamilton, operate Hula Bros. Inc. in Kurtistown, HI, on the Big Island. Mr. Hamilton is also president of the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Cooperative in Kurtistown. Hula Bros.' packinghouse packs for the cooperative members and independent growers.
Ms. Hamilton said that most of Hawaii's tropical fruit production is on the Big Island, where there is the most available land. "In the last year, there was really good growing land north of Hilo that was predominantly sugar on the rainy side of the island where now these tropical crops are being put in and the properties instead of being thousands of acres [as with sugar] are in five- to 100-acre plots that people are working on. More will be between 10 and 50 acres," Ms. Hamilton said.
Increases in Hawaiian tropical fruit production are coming "from younger farms that are coming online," she added.
The cooperative jumped from shipping 3,500 pounds of longan two years ago to 35,000 pounds last year. The co-op plans to ship 60,000 pounds this year. "Longan is now becoming able to cycle year round, and we're trying to have farms cooperate and have longan available all year round. There are lulls around weather problems."
Rambutan is an alternate-bearing crop that was shipped from October to March this season, so Rambutan was entering a lull when Ms. Hamilton spoke with The Produce News March 22. The next season will run from August through May "with way more fruit." Shipments to the mainland should jump from 500,000 boxes of Rambutan to "half that again or twice that much."
Among the factors boosting Hawaiian fruit exports is the installation of an electronic beam irradiation facility in Hawaii early this decade. This replaced the process of having to fly fruit to Chicago for irradiation by cobalt. The e-beam process involves no radioactive material, which keeps Hawaiians environmentally comfortable.
Ms. Hamilton said that the e-beam process involves having an electronic beam pass through tungsten plates that turn light rays into gamma rays, "sterilizing any fruit fly larvae if it's present. I have never seen larvae on Rambutan. We have it on papaya but no other fruit."
She said that the gamma ray exposure "is not high enough to kill larvae, but renders them sterile."
Hawaii Pride, which is located about five miles from Hula Bros., operates the e-beam facility.
Ms. Hamilton is unoffended by the reference of Hawaii "exporting" fruit to the mainland United States because the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service "allows Thailand to export more irradiated products than we can." She also believes that growers in Mexico, Central America and South America receive gentler APHIS treatment than do Hawaiian growers.
If Hula Bros. packs for the local market, it uses the "Hula" brand. Fruit to be "exported" to the mainland United States is packed under the brand of the "Hawaii Tropical Fruit Cooperative."
"We don't export lychee much. On the worldwide market, that is difficult. It is a short season, and all the world harvests at the same time - from May to July. So in places like Taiwan, it is so much cheaper and they ship on boats. We air freight everything. Everything is picked, packed, treated and shipped in 24 hours."
About 80 percent of the cooperative's sales to the mainland go to the West Coast.
There are eight members in the cooperative, but there are 30 growers that sell through the organization. "Whether they are members or not, they pay the same assessment fees per pound." Some cooperative members pack their own fruit. Hula Bros. uses a packing machine that was made in Australia.
Land prices in Hawaii have doubled in the last two years, Ms. Hamilton said. Compared to expensive real estate areas like Boston and parts of California, the prices in Hawaii are similar, she added. One 10-acre agricultural parcel near the coast was priced near $1 million. But farther from the waterfront, there is "fabulous growing" land, where 50 acres may be had for a mere $1.2 million.
Ms. Hamilton and her husband, Bob Hamilton, operate Hula Bros. Inc. in Kurtistown, HI, on the Big Island. Mr. Hamilton is also president of the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Cooperative in Kurtistown. Hula Bros.' packinghouse packs for the cooperative members and independent growers.
Ms. Hamilton said that most of Hawaii's tropical fruit production is on the Big Island, where there is the most available land. "In the last year, there was really good growing land north of Hilo that was predominantly sugar on the rainy side of the island where now these tropical crops are being put in and the properties instead of being thousands of acres [as with sugar] are in five- to 100-acre plots that people are working on. More will be between 10 and 50 acres," Ms. Hamilton said.
Increases in Hawaiian tropical fruit production are coming "from younger farms that are coming online," she added.
The cooperative jumped from shipping 3,500 pounds of longan two years ago to 35,000 pounds last year. The co-op plans to ship 60,000 pounds this year. "Longan is now becoming able to cycle year round, and we're trying to have farms cooperate and have longan available all year round. There are lulls around weather problems."
Rambutan is an alternate-bearing crop that was shipped from October to March this season, so Rambutan was entering a lull when Ms. Hamilton spoke with The Produce News March 22. The next season will run from August through May "with way more fruit." Shipments to the mainland should jump from 500,000 boxes of Rambutan to "half that again or twice that much."
Among the factors boosting Hawaiian fruit exports is the installation of an electronic beam irradiation facility in Hawaii early this decade. This replaced the process of having to fly fruit to Chicago for irradiation by cobalt. The e-beam process involves no radioactive material, which keeps Hawaiians environmentally comfortable.
Ms. Hamilton said that the e-beam process involves having an electronic beam pass through tungsten plates that turn light rays into gamma rays, "sterilizing any fruit fly larvae if it's present. I have never seen larvae on Rambutan. We have it on papaya but no other fruit."
She said that the gamma ray exposure "is not high enough to kill larvae, but renders them sterile."
Hawaii Pride, which is located about five miles from Hula Bros., operates the e-beam facility.
Ms. Hamilton is unoffended by the reference of Hawaii "exporting" fruit to the mainland United States because the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service "allows Thailand to export more irradiated products than we can." She also believes that growers in Mexico, Central America and South America receive gentler APHIS treatment than do Hawaiian growers.
If Hula Bros. packs for the local market, it uses the "Hula" brand. Fruit to be "exported" to the mainland United States is packed under the brand of the "Hawaii Tropical Fruit Cooperative."
"We don't export lychee much. On the worldwide market, that is difficult. It is a short season, and all the world harvests at the same time - from May to July. So in places like Taiwan, it is so much cheaper and they ship on boats. We air freight everything. Everything is picked, packed, treated and shipped in 24 hours."
About 80 percent of the cooperative's sales to the mainland go to the West Coast.
There are eight members in the cooperative, but there are 30 growers that sell through the organization. "Whether they are members or not, they pay the same assessment fees per pound." Some cooperative members pack their own fruit. Hula Bros. uses a packing machine that was made in Australia.
Land prices in Hawaii have doubled in the last two years, Ms. Hamilton said. Compared to expensive real estate areas like Boston and parts of California, the prices in Hawaii are similar, she added. One 10-acre agricultural parcel near the coast was priced near $1 million. But farther from the waterfront, there is "fabulous growing" land, where 50 acres may be had for a mere $1.2 million.
