Monopolies are bad for consumers and producers, but one has been formed here in Hawaii, right under our noses, that significantly affects our state’s goals for sustainability and local food production.

A billionaire from Idaho has quickly amassed control of 75% of the meatpacking capacity in Hawaii. He bought out the operators of the two largest plants (one on the Big Island, the other on Oahu), which are both under state leases administered by the Department of Agriculture.

The new owner appears to support local agriculture and small ranchers, but his plans include flooding the Hawaii market with product from his mainland ranching operations. His plans could also eliminate local jobs and push Big Island ranchers out of the local beef market. The impacts are devastating.

The new owner said his plan is to “integrate” the two plants in Hawaii with a new packing plant he is building in Idaho, where he also controls a very large cattle operation. The result would be horizontal integration of meatpacking in Hawaii, plus vertical integration using his ranching operations in Idaho. These are classic monopolization strategies and can have serious consequences to Hawaii consumers and ranchers.

The owner’s plan requires the Big Island’s plant services to be significantly reduced, so cattle from the Big Island could be slaughtered there, then processed on Oahu. The ramifications of this strategy would be catastrophic to the ecosystems in place on each island. Reducing services on the Big Island, where the largest producer of Hawaii beef reside, would put many jobs and businesses in jeopardy. Many of these businesses have been operating in Hawaii for decades. Shifting processing away from the Big Island will also create additional expenses for Big Island ranchers to produce local beef.

The current plan is to increase Oahu’s plant capacity fivefold. This would nearly triple the meatpacking capacity in the state. However, it was also stated that the plan is to dedicate 50% of this new capacity to processing beef from his personal ranching operation in Idaho. This 50% capacity would be equal to 100% of all the local beef produced and processed in Hawaii today.

Expanding the capacity of state assets, on state leases, to process and introduce mainland products, under the guise of helping local ranchers, is wrong.

Hawaii is a place where relationships and loyalties matter. Businesses exist with a sense of respect and mutual admiration, often working together. No single ranch or packer entity dominates markets in this way. But these expansion plans would increase one company’s market share to over 90% of the state’s meatpacking capacity.

These plans will be highly disruptive and could result in one person eventually having control of 100% of the meatpacking capacity in Hawaii, thereby dominating the local market, at the expense of longstanding local businesses. This strategy is focused on controlling market share, not supporting the industry. Small meatpackers, processors and ranchers are the most vulnerable.

The most unsettling aspect of this strategy is the owner is using state assets and leases to implement this plan.

The goal of sustainability is self-reliance. Local ranchers are already forced to compete with imports. Using state assets and state leases to subsidize imported beef product goes against our food security goals. In the long run, this plan will not support Hawaii agriculture or small ranchers. Monopolization of essential industries like meatpacking, is a very serious potential threat and would raise the kinds of issues that agencies like the Packers and Stockyards Division of the USDA and the U.S. Department of Justice would likely review for possible anti- trust implications.

Dutch Kuyper is CEO of Parker Ranch, Inc.; Michelle Galimba is owner/manager of Kuahiwi Ranch; Tim Richards, D.V.M., is with Kahua Ranch and a Hawaii County Council member.