ripe orange cacao pods

Award-Winning Hawaii Cacao

from

Mauna Kea Cacao LLC

Learn about our Hawaii cacao grown on the beautiful Hamakua Coast.

Tour Our Farm

Come see our award-winning farm and taste our chocolate! We love to share our beautiful farm with visitors. And you'll get to taste chocolate and buy farm-fresh cacao nibs and chocolate. Tours are offered on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 10:00 am and 1:00 pm. To learn more and reserve tours see our Farm Tour and Chocolate Tasting page.

Our Goal

Our primary goal is simple . . . to produce world-class cacao for dark chocolate crafters and aficionados. In 2021 and 2019, our farm was one of only five Hawaii cacao farms selected to compete for the International Cocoa of Excellence award in Paris, France.

We achieve this goal sustainably by growing cacao where rain is plentiful on land previously cleared for sugar cane.

Owners

We (John and Susan) purchased 20 acres on Hawaii's Hamakua Coast in 2011 and began planting cacao seedlings twice each year during vacations from our engineering and environmental jobs. In 2015, we moved from Denver, Colorado to Pepeekeo, Hawaii. Since then, we have been planting trees, harvesting pods, and fermenting and drying beans. In 2018 our hard work paid off and we earned the "Best Cacao" award at the Big Island Chocolate Festival. Chocolate made from our cacao is also winning awards.

Mauna Kea Cacao Owners