Improving Livelihoods of Farmers in Hawaii by Creating a Honey Marketing Model

View the project final report

Commodities

• Animals: bees
• Animal Products: honey

Practices

• Crop Production: beekeeping
• Education and Training: technical assistance
• Farm Business Management: cooperatives, new enterprise development
• Sustainable Communities: new business opportunities

Problem: Most small farmers on the Big Island of Hawaii have low incomes and minimal support resources. They need additional revenue streams to make their farms successful. Can the Hilo/Honokaa area of Hawaii support the marketing efforts of a group of farmers who have been trained at Bird and Bee Hawaii, an on-farm apiary and education center using malama-aina traditional Hawaiian concepts that emphasize balance, reciprocity, and sustainability?

Research: This grant-funded market researched the viability of training a group of farmers, including veterans identified by Ho'ola Farm, in honey marketing procedures and created a group that formed a marketing model based on identifying the unique attributes of the local honey and using labels an Instagram site, and Hawaii Coastal Honey website which highlights both the marketing model and the special qualities of the honey.

Significance: The project has increased incomes of some struggling small farmers, thereby improving the quality of rural life in a poverty-stricken area that has great potential for producing large amounts of high-quality honey. Because the climate in the area is conducive to frequent honey harvesting and hive division, the farmers have marketable honey in a short time frame, which enables them to creating beekeeping related income quickly.

Dissemination: Brochures highlighting the results of the marketing research and creation of a cooperative marketing model will be disseminated using newsletters, bulk e-mails, an Instagram site, a website, and local partners such as Ho'ola Farms, Kohala Center, and the Hilo Small Business Development Center as well as on farmer forums. 

• Trained 25 beekeepers in business and marketing principles. The beekeepers will be local small farmers and veterans who have already been trained as beekeepers at Ho'ola Farms, a veteran service center and farm.
• Created a honey marketing research plan.
• Worked together to build a cooperative honey marketing model for farmers and veterans.
• Created a branded honey for the Honoka'a/Hilo area on the Big Island of Hawaii.
• *In Progress -Raise 25 farmers and military veterans (35% veterans) out of poverty by increasing farm incomes.
• Disseminate the results of this research to other farmers and communities using USDA and beekeeper organization newsletters, articles in publications, various types of social media, bulk e-mails, and classes and presentations.