KONA >> During a busy shift in late August at the Honalo facility, Anissa Lucero and her crew of five efficiently tackled a seemingly endless supply of freshly picked ulu. In fact, workers can get through 12,000 pounds of fresh fruit a day.

The process starts with pressure washing the fruit to remove latex sap and debris from the field. Next, in the kitchen the ulu is peeled, sliced and steamed. Cooked ulu is weighed and packed by hand in 10-pound bags that are boxed and frozen.

“We accept mature ulu that’s pretty much like a potato,” said Lucero. “Skin on and fully cooked, it’s good to thaw and make a potato salad or stir-fry.”

Peeled and sliced raw fruit soak in lemon water at every stage of processing to prevent oxidation, which would mar their pristine beige flesh.

Though the fruit that day were small in size, and smaller fruit isn’t usually peeled, the crew was working to fill an order from the co-op’s biggest client, the state Department of Education, which requested 10,000 pounds of peeled product. The ulu has been used this month to serve ulu beef stew in every public school in the state, about 300.

“We prefer processing the ulu the same day it comes in, or the day after,” she said. “It can sit in the fridge up to six days and doesn’t ripen much if it’s in the right temperature. The best temperature is 55 degrees.”

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