Category Archives: Company News

Company News, Lettuce

At The Mall

At the Ag Expo this past Saturday, at Hilo’s Prince Kuhio Plaza, one of the things we demonstrated was our “living lettuce.”

june-and-tracy

Richard’s wife June and their daughter Tracy set out a head of our lettuce, which we distribute with some of the roots still attached, in a “Hawaii Seal of Quality” mug filled with water—to show how you can keep Hamakua Springs lettuce fresher, for longer.

Here’s Richard with the lettuce.

richard-with-lettuce

It sat there from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Tracy says it looked great. “The lettuce stayed nice and perky the whole time we were there,” she says. Feel free to try this at home.

We also rolled out our new slogan: “Hydroponic: Clean and Green.” What do you think? We want to educate the public about the positives of growing food hydroponically, the way we grow everything at Hamakua Springs (except the bananas, of course).

If this is new to you, you can read more about the Clean and Green—such as why hydroponics is such a healthy choice (growing without soil means less need for chemicals and pesticides, as well as lower energy use because we don’t have to till the ground, etc.)—at our website.

We also sold our vegetables at the Ag Expo this year. While introducing people to our new products, we managed to move about 65 pounds of cucumbers, five cases of tomatoes (beefsteak, cocktail, mini Roma and heirlooms) and six cases of lettuce.

Have YOU tried Hamakua Springs? We’re at your supermarket (if you live here in the land of aloha, that is).

Ag Expo

If you don’t live here in the land of aloha—why not? Where do you live? Tell us something about it. Or tell us what your favorite Hamakua Springs product is. We’d love to hear from you.

Alan Wong, Company News, Lettuce

Living Lettuce

Richard Ha writes:

Our newest product here at Hamakua Springs Country Farms—our Chef’s Select baby lettuce, which we grow hydroponically under a rain shelter—breathes.

baby-lettuce

That’s why we call our new product “living lettuce”—because we leave some of the roots on when we send it out to the stores. This means the lettuce can take up water and oxygen, and gives it a longer shelf life. It also means one can actually keep it fresh on a kitchen counter for awhile, in a bowl of fresh water, provided some of the roots remain above the water so it can take in oxygen.

We developed the “Chef’s Select baby lettuce” product after learning about the finer points of lettuce from Chef Alan Wong, who provides much appreciated help and advice when we are developing new products.

We held a product development meeting at Chef Alan’s King Street Restaurant and I watched him evaluate several different varieties of lettuce. He removed each leaf, giving a running commentary of how each lettuce leaf could be used for salads, garnish and in other ways, depending on its size, texture, color.

Living Lettuce
I had no idea that lettuce was ever so closely scrutinized. He talked of loft, which is when a lettuce has characteristics enabling it to retain its shape and not go flat under the weight of different protein offerings as well as dressings. He said that he could use baby leaves as the baby lettuce leaves would be tender and retain their identifying shape in salads and garnishes.

That’s what led us to develop what we call Chef’s Select baby lettuce, a combination of three lettuces in each container. We chose a mini romaine for its crunchy texture, dark green color, loft and good taste. A butter lettuce is included for its light green color, buttery taste and round shaped leaves, and a lollo rosa is a part of the mix for its brilliant red color, frilly leaves and because its taste complements the other two.

If you try some of our new Chef’s Select baby lettuce you’ll know you are getting a lettuce with the characteristics that Hawai‘i’s finest chefs seek out.

Bananas, Company News, Hamakua Coast

The Name Game

“We’re the same guys that did Keaau Bananas,” says Richard Ha, president of the more-recently-named Hamakua Springs Country Farms. “It might not be generally known that we’re the same people.”

He started Keaau Bananas way back in 1982. Along the way the company took “Mauna Kea Bananas” as its corporate name, and began using the Mauna Kea Bananas name on its apple bananas as well.

But then they started farming in Hamakua, consolidated and expanded operations at their Pepe‘ekeo farm and sold their Kea‘au land.

And they changed the company’s name to Hamakua Springs Country Farms.

While their tomatoes have always been branded under the Hamakua Springs Country Farms name, Richard says changing the bananas to the new name, after decades as “Keaau Bananas,” was a big deal.

“It’s not that easy to just change it one day,” he says. “You wonder about the repercussions. And you get invested in the name emotionally. You’ve got to separate that out.”

logo

 

The new name, complete with its great, highly stylized logo designed by local artist Nelson Makua, includes:

Hamakua -because of the farm’s Hamakua coastline location,

Springs -because there are three springs on the property, and

Country Farms – because the Has think of themselves as small farmers, even though, with almost 600 acres, they aren’t. Richard says that as they expanded the farms’ products, they envisioned a series of boutique-like farms rather than one big corporate identity.

What does Richard most want people to know about Hamakua Springs? That the company’s culture hasn’t changed.

It is still a family farm that takes seriously the concept of sustainable farming. And he says that doesn’t mean just taking a “template” of sustainability principles and applying that wherever they are.

“It was different in Kea‘au,” he says. “Two different environments, two different sets of conditions. The environment dictates how we choose to operate; how to make the sustainability principles work.”

An example? Unlike at the Kea‘au farm where it was mostly rock, at the Pepe‘ekeo farm there’s plenty of soil, and grass grows wild between the bananas.

They soon realized that their tractors would make ruts in the dirt rows between plants if they kept using the same path, so they experimented with widening the distance between banana plants. That lets them mow between rows, which means their machines get traction on the grass and don’t make ruts.

It also means the grass between the plants traps water and chemicals, so they don’t run into the rivers.

“Some people call us innovators,” says Richard. “We’re very adaptable. We like change. It keeps things exciting. We’re always looking for change to make things better.”