Kapaa, Kauai >> When Adam Asquith sees piles of taro corms, he doesn’t think of poi. As owner of Kauai Taro Co. and manager of Kealia Farm, his goal is to secure taro’s place by creating products that appeal to more people.

“I don’t think the future of poi is going to grow,” says Asquith, whose farm is on the east side of Kauai, “but you can do anything with taro that you would do with any starch. Hawaii hasn’t even touched taro flour, which King Kalakaua did in the 1800s.”

Asquith and two workers harvest up to 3 tons of taro every week. Much of it does go to companies that produce poi, but a small amount is set aside each week for other value-added products. Every Monday and Friday at Kealia Farm Market, the Asquith family sells these products as well as cooked taro corms and 50 to 100 pounds of Kealia Poi.

Kristine Yulo, a vendor at the market and owner of The Sacred Spoon, works with Asquith’s wife, Bonnie, to create such offerings as Poidding, a chocolate poi dessert with a thicker consistency than pudding, and lilikoi Poigurt, a nondairy blend. They also sell silky poi pies in chocolate and green tea flavors, and taro burgers with pickled carrots and daikon, served with taro fries.

Alternate uses of taro have been around for a long time, from the original taro pancakes to lavash to commercially produced taro rolls. Kulolo, a popular Hawaiian dessert, originated with Polynesian voyagers and is widely available in grocery stores and mom-and-pop shops. Poi bowls, with fresh tropical fruit and granola, are growing in popularity.

Chefs and bakers typically create these dishes, so it is rare when a farmer pushes for innovation in how the food he grows is prepared. Asquith dreams and schemes, moving taro from field to market by creating new products and partnering with local businesses.

Michael Sterioff, of Passion Bakery in Kapaa, uses Asquith’s shredded taro in brioche buns, used to cradle burgers sold from the Grand Hyatt Resort to food trucks such as Nom Breakfast & Burgers. ‘Ai Manuahi Farms ships Asquith’s taro to a mill in Portland, Ore., where it’s ground into flour sold at farmers markets on Oahu.

An attempt to turn taro into vodka died due to lack of funding, but it has made its way into beer. Dave Curry of Kauai Island Brewery & Grill ferments Asquith’s taro into Kalo Brew.

Coming up: A partnership with a Lihue eatery owned by Lourdes Torres and Emilio Ruiz-Romero launches July 14. The couple, known for folding cricket powder, a sustainable protein, into baked goods, will be adding dehydrated sour poi, a probiotic, to shakes.

Asquith sees marketing and presumptions about poi as his biggest challenges. Customers know where to find poi and kulolo in a grocery store, but he’s not sure where to place Poidding and Poigurt.

But purists, who like their poi plain, are a hurdle that Asquith can jump.

“It’s just getting it out there and putting it in people’s mouths,” says Asquith. “Sweetened poi is nothing new. I know plenty of people who put sugar or honey in it. Old-timers grew up on pokewai, which is chopped taro mixed with sweetened condensed milk.”

The sound of surf at Kealia Beach, less than a mile away, fills the air at Asquith’s farm. So does the call of endangered Hawaiian stilt birds as they fly across his fields. Water from Mount Makaleha trickles into a patchwork of loi (taro gardens) that spreads across 30 acres. Tradewinds tussle heart-shaped leaves as big as basketballs, which bob and sway on 6-feet-tall stalks submerged in 3 feet of water.

Each loi contains about 10,000 plants. While there are hundreds of varieties, Asquith, like most farmers, grows Lehua No. 6, a newer hybrid by the University of Hawaii. He also grows Super Moi, named for the white flesh of the Hawaiian fish, and poniponi, which means “very purple.”

Asquith, 52, moved from Illinois to Hawaii in 1987. With a doctorate in biology, the former Fish & Wildlife biologist for the Hanalei Valley Wildlife Refuge was Kauai’s best bug guy, according to his wife, Bonnie, also a former biologist. He retired 10 years ago and opened Kauai Taro Co., a wholesale farming business specializing in raw taro.

Asquith’s company sells 50 percent of its taro to the commercial poi market. The other half goes to those who resell it to Polynesian markets in Honolulu and Alaska and on the mainland. His raw taro has also traveled on the voyaging canoe Hokule‘a.

Some goes to small family operations such as Pomai Kulolo, which produces kulolo and haulolo, a blend of haupia and kulolo. Both desserts are sold at Times Supermarkets on Oahu as well as markets on the mainland.

While Asquith’s taro spreads across America, he watches his gardens grow. By the end of 2018, he’ll plant 10 additional acres and endless ideas will sprout.

“It’s not all about poi anymore,” he says. “It’s exciting times!”

TARO IN HAWAII

The latest U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics place statewide production of taro at 3.5 million pounds in 2015. The Hawaii State Farm Bureau, in its publication “Hawaii Farm & Food,” estimates that Kauai produces 80 percent of that amount.

FINDING KAUAI TARO PRODUCTS ON OAHU:

>> Several families grow taro on 150 acres in Hanalei Valley, selling it to Taro Brand, the state’s largest commercial poi producer.

>> Hanalei Taro & Juice Co., a sixth-generation family farm, sells poi, taro burgers and kulolo at farmers markets on Oahu.

>> Hanalei Poi farms 50 acres in Hanalei town; markets throughout the state sell its poi.

Marta Lane is a freelance writer who owns the food tour company Tasting Kauai. Reach her through TastingKauai.com.