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State agriculture officials are looking to increase Hawaii’s food exports to the Middle East next year.
Sharon Hurd, of the state Department of Agriculture’s Market Development Branch, said Middle Eastern countries, including the oil-rich United Arab Emirates represent an untapped market for Hawaii’s exports.
Representatives of the department plan to present Hawaii’s agricultural exports at a food convention in Dubai in February 2016. Hurd said she wants to use $10,000 in federal funds to secure a booth for Hawaii at the Gulfood trade show in Dubai, Hawaii News Now reported.
Hurd has filed an application for exemption to state procurement laws to meet the convention’s deadlines. Her request is being reviewed.
Hurd said she understands how much effort it will take to make Hawaii a major player in the Middle Eastern market, but that the challenges can be overcome.
In her application, Hurd said that the six Persian Gulf states in the Gulf Cooperation Council — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — have a population of roughly 40 million people and produce a small fraction of the food they consume.
“Hawaii products have not been tested in this market,” Hurd wrote. “The few companies that have looked into potential for Hawaii products have reported that our products are in demand.”
For now, Japan remains Hawaii’s biggest export market, with about $49 million in exports going to the country in 2014.
Exports to China totaled $19 million last year, and South Korea rounded out the top three for 2014 exports, with $8.3 million.
Only $191,000 in agricultural exports from Hawaii — including cocoa and cereal — went to the United Arab Emirates last year. The total for 2015 so far is $27,000.
It’d be nice to know exactly what kinds of “food exports” these experts have in mind. “Cereal” and cocoa aren’t exactly our most widely-planted and world renowned crops. Cocoa is a remote possibility, but we can’t hope that our “cereal” (grains, presumably) could compete with other global exporters.
Shipping Kona coffee would be like sending coal to Newcastle (if anyone still understands that comparison), and besides, there’s not enough of it to satisfy the market that already exists.
Pakalolo? Fer shur, dude. But that’s still a pipe dream for us.
What we ought to be doing is back-burnering this notion of a big increase in food exports, and trying one hell of a lot harder to become locally food-sufficient. When the global crunch comes, that might just be our salvation.
Half way around the world must mean that the fruits must be picked from the tree at a very early stage?
This should bode well for the express mail delivery. Lots of fresh flowers are sent to the mainland, USA from Hawaii, on a daily bases. And especially at Mother’s Day.
Hawaii needs to sustain agriculture just in case the visitor industry takes a rest.
Are the fruits from Hawaii being exported going to be subjected to irradiation rays?