HILO >> The owners of a Hawaii food distribution company have bought the assets of a Hamakua dairy farm that went out of business several years ago.

Chad and Stephanie Buck of Oahu recently purchased the assets of the former Big Island Dairy with hopes of supporting sustainable agriculture, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported last week.

The Bucks own and operate Hawaii Foodservice Alliance, a food distribution and logistics company that distributes dairy and bakery products to Hawaii’s grocers, clubs and convenience stores.

“Having recently experienced the food challenges that were exposed by COVID and Hawaii’s lack of sustainable agriculture, we believe that this processing equipment, infrastructure and farming equipment should be saved, repurposed where able, and used for the benefit of the community and Hawaii,” Chad Buck wrote in a letter provided to the newspaper.

Big Island Dairy was located on land leased from the state. The Bucks are working with the state Department of Agriculture on a lease transfer application.

Buck said, however, they’re “committed to not replicate the industrial-sized dairy operation of years past.”

Buck declined to comment on the purchase price of the assets and cost of the lease.