The macadamia is the world’s most expensive nut and has long been one of Hawaii’s top crops. But might local farmers also become significant producers of another very pricey nut?
State Department of Agriculture officials and a Seattle nut and chocolate treat manufacturer are trying to interest local farmers in growing cashews, saying Hawaii’s climate is well suited for the kidney-shaped nut, which can fetch hefty prices.
What’s more, cashews grow perfectly on what is regarded in Hawaii as marginal farmland, which presents an opportunity to expand the state’s agriculture industry at little or no expense to other crops.
“Based on the research, the potential for cashews as a specialty crop for Hawaii is positive,” said Sharon Hurd, head of the Agriculture Department’s market development branch.
The cashew tree is native to Brazil, and became a plantation crop in the 19th century after being regarded often more as a means of erosion control, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
A 2004 report by the group said the cashew is the third-most produced edible nut, with global sales topping $2 billion in 2000.
The report said cashews can be the second- or third-priciest nut in the U.S., rivaling pecans and behind macadamias.
Hawaii obviously can’t compete with leading cashew-producing countries, which include India, Brazil, Vietnam, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. But state Agriculture Department officials believe a successful brand of Hawaii-grown cashews can be established, with potential for single-estate and organic production commanding premiums for a commodity that presently retails for around $8 a pound.
State officials recently hosted workshops on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island that attracted 41 farmers, and are offering free seedlings for those wishing to participate in field trials.
Helping promote the opportunity was George Paulose, president of AMES International, a Seattle-based cashew importer and parent company of Emily’s Chocolates and Nuts.
Paulose unsuccessfully tried to persuade Hawaii sugar cane and pineapple growers to diversify with cashews a couple of decades ago. At the recent presentations he told farmers he is interested in buying Hawaii cashews if large-enough quantities are produced, state officials said. Paulose was unavailable for comment last week.
To be sure, growing cashews — like any type of farming — isn’t necessarily an easy, quick or automatically profitable business.
Scott Neuman knows firsthand the challenges of pioneering in this area, as he set up what may be the biggest local cashew farm in 2004 on Kauai.
NeuMana Hui Farm came to be after Neuman and his wife, Linda, saw a cashew farm while touring the Panama Canal and decided to plant their own orchard on former pineapple plantation land in Moloaa largely because the farm they saw on their trip looked like it could have been on Kauai.
“I sort of Forest Gump’d my way into it,” he said. “It’s been a struggle — just trying to figure it out. I’ve kind of had to do it on my own.”
Neuman found a Hawaii island nursery that had about 80 cashew plants, and those initial plants took three to five years to become mature trees that produce nuts.
While the trees matured, Neuman, a real estate appraiser, continued his regular job. So did his wife, a nurse who also teaches at Kauai Community College.
NeuMana Hui Farm today has several hundred trees from propagation efforts, and sells cashews at farmers markets at prices competitive with Costco. But Neuman, 55, said he’s not getting rich.
“It’s more of a lifestyle thing,” he said.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization report, small cashew farms are subject to risks that include disease, pests and price fluctuations.
Presently, cashew prices are depressed because of the European debt crisis and political and production shifts in some big cashew-producing countries.
Also, processing is labor-intensive because the nuts have extremely hard shells, the report said.
On the other hand, the report said cashew farming can be lucrative because of broader long-term price strength for the nuts and opportunities to harvest other parts of the tree.
The nut is the main commercial product, but the cashew tree also produces an apple, a false fruit that can be made into juice containing five times more vitamin C than an orange. The apple also can be made into jelly, a wine and a distilled spirit.
Paulose said in his presentation that the cashew apple is virtually unknown to the average American consumer and has the potential to become the next “super fruit” like goji or açai berries.
Another product from the cashew tree extracted by some big producers is a caustic nut shell resin that has industrial and medicinal uses.
The Agriculture Department said field trials will help determine areas in Hawaii where cashew trees will flourish. The evergreen tree is resistant to drought and prefers deep sandy soil, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization report. State officials said red soils also are good for cashew trees and that the crop will grow well on land with middle to lower productivity ratings — C- and D-rated land on a scale of A to E.
No one expects cashews to rival macadamia nuts in Hawaii. But even mac nuts, among the state’s four most valuable food crops, started small. In 1946 there were 950 acres of mac nut trees which produced $96,000 in nut sales, according to the Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service. The industry peaked in 1989 with $45 million in sales from 22,300 acres. Last year sales totaled $38 million from 17,000 acres.
