By Christina Umpierre
O‘ahu’s Cacao Farms Make for Fun Tours and Tasty Treats
There’s one place on the planet where you can find all-American chocolate, and it’s not where you might expect: Hawai‘i.
It’s the only U.S. state that can grow cacao, and while it was first planted on O‘ahu circa 1831 by Spaniard Don Francisco de Paula Marín, right-hand man to King Kamehameha I, cacao has been truly flourishing on island farms in recent years.
O‘ahu growers, from eastern rain forests to the North Shore’s iron-rich red volcanic soil, are leading the quest to make Hawai‘i the Napa Valley of chocolate. They respect the land and emphasize quality over quantity — and produce delicious treats that will add some (ahem) sweet flavor to your next Hawaiian vacation.
21 Degrees Estate
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Cacao grows in the humid tropical zones around the equator. In fact, at 20 to 22 degrees north of the equator, Hawai‘i is the northernmost — and “coldest” — place cacao trees can thrive.
21 Degrees Estate — a nod to O‘ahu’s latitude — is about a 40-minute drive north from Waikiki to the island’s lush windward side in Kahalu‘u. The 10-acre farm was started in 2014 by Michael Rogers and Maria Carl-Rogers, who bill their boutique operation as “the most charming cacao farm in America.”
They offer two-hour guided farm tours (reservations required) on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. Besides learning how cacao is processed and sampling artisan single-origin chocolate, tropical fruits, and floral honey straight from the beehives, you get to cuddle miniature goats, chicks, and bunnies. Seriously, can life get any better?
Waialua Estate Coffee and Chocolate
Less than an hour’s drive from Waikiki, the North Shore’s Waialua Estate Coffee and Chocolate is the state’s largest cacao grower at 80 acres, in addition to its 155 acres of coffee. After Waialua Sugar Company closed in 1996, Dole® started planting coffee and chocolate where the sugarcane previously grew to diversify their own agriculture and employ displaced workers.
While the working farm doesn’t offer public tours, you can visit the Island X Hawaii shop located in Waialua’s historic Old Sugar Mill. The rustic retail outlet gives an unofficial tour of the operational mill and offers craft chocolate and just-roasted coffee samples. Try Old Sugar Mill shave ice made with syrup from North Shore–grown fruits and specialty products such as ube (purple yam) crinkle cookies.
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Nine Fine Mynahs Cacao Farm
Also in Waialua, Nine Fine Mynahs Cacao Farm — a 5-acre plot that houses birds as well as hundreds of cacao trees — is run by Jeanne Bennett and Bruce Clements.
Established in 2000, the farm harvests and cracks open the cacao pods, ferments, dries, and ages the beans, and crafts ultrafine chocolate bars — and also sells perfume, soap, and body scrubs made with chocolate. In-depth tours are limited to once a week for small private groups.
Kahuku Farms
One of the island’s most unique agricultural tours takes place at North Shore’s Kahuku Farms, where visitors can hop aboard a one-hour tractor-pulled wagon ride on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 1 p.m. Run by fourth-generation farmer Kylie Matsuda-Lum, Kahuku Farms grows a variety of produce, including cacao for its line of rich chocolate goodies. Stop by the Farm Cafe for a grilled veggie panini, Tropi-Kale smoothie, or an açaí bowl made with the berries picked from palms on-site.
