About Made in Hawaii Products and Members of the Hawaii Food Manufacturers Association

To qualify for membership in Hawaii Food Manufacturers Association (HFMA) and be listed on this website, an individual or company must produce one or more food products within the State of Hawaii. The HFMA confirms this by visiting the prospective member's Hawaii plant and viewing the products being made before approving the manufacturer for membership. The State of Hawaii statute §486-119 requires that a product may only carry the statement, "Made in Hawaii" if 51% of its wholesale value is added by manufacture, assembly, fabrication, or production within the State of Hawaii. Ability to enforce this statute, especially if an overseas producer decides to blatantly use the statement to sell more products abroad, is limited. However, the HFMA has found that its members are for the most part honest and dedicating to preserving the integrity of the "Made in Hawaii" label and will not use the statement on their packaging for products manufactured someplace other than Hawaii or if the product does not otherwise meet the statutory definition. For HFMA member and other products, consumers concerned with buying products made within the State of Hawaii may be fairly confident that the product is produced in Hawaii if the label says "Made in Hawaii". This will be especially the case when buying in Hawaii. With that said, there are many products actually made in Hawaii that do not have the statement "Made in Hawaii" on their labels. A Hawaii address on the label is also not a reliable indicator, as the management or sales office for that product may be in Hawaii, but the product itself may be made in Hawaii or made elsewhere. However, even if not made in Hawaii, a product with such an address may indicate that the creators of the product, perhaps the packaging designers, and maybe part of the sales force is located in Hawaii and contributing to a diversified Hawaii economy. If consumers are concerned that a product is actually made in Hawaii, they could start with contacting the company and asking. While members of the HFMA do produce one or more products within the State of Hawaii, they may also have manufacturing plants on the mainland or elsewhere in addition to a Hawaii manufacturing facility. If an HFMA member is selling products to the mainland market extensively, it makes business sense to produce the product on the mainland. It also reduces the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the product as the product does not have to be shipped from Hawaii. Plus, containers such as bottles do not have to be shipped to Hawaii, filled, then shipped back to the mainland. About Using Hawaii Agriculture Ingredients The food manufacturing industry in Hawaii is one of the largest consumers of Hawaii's agriculture production. The industry helps convert perishable agricultural products into longer lasting agriculture based products though cooking, freezing, packaging, and other preserving techniques. This allows Hawaii's agriculture industry to be larger than it would be if it were solely selling fresh produce. Most HFMA members are dedicated to trying to use as much local agricultural products in their jams, sauces, drinks, etc. as possible. Many HFMA members have their own farms or work closely with farmers to develop produce for their products. Some HFMA members are committed to using only Hawaii agricultural products. These companies may be limited in ability to grow or produce consistently because of the unpredictability of weather, disease, and economic factors affecting Hawaii's farmers. Others will use as much locally grown agriculture products as they can get, but also have a variety of suppliers outside of Hawaii in order to keep production steady, maintain the ability to meet consumer demand, and keep its workers consistently employed. Some food producers can use very little Hawaii grown agriculture products. These include bakeries, tofu and miso producers, noodles makers, and so forth. Storable commodities such as wheat, rice, and soy are unlikely to become economically feasible to grow in Hawaii anytime soon. However, these HFMA member companies still provide a valuable service to Hawaii's residents by producing fresh and desirable products to the local market and employing local residents. Dedication to Hawaii, its people, Its Culture The members of the Hawaii Food Manufacturers Association are united by their love of Hawaii's one-of-a-kind cultural and natural environment. Many of our members are family run companies that have been producing food products in Hawaii for generations. Others are new to the islands but have embraced its unique spirit and beauty. In either case, surviving in Hawaii's challenging business conditions and competing against international conglomerates to sell food is hard. We hope you will continue to support the entrepreneurs and small businesses that put the spirit and beauty of Hawaii into their food products.

Definition of "processed" or "value - added" as followed by the HFMA Manufactured from or prepared from raw animal, vegetable, or marine sources which are converted into edible products by pealing, cutting, shredding, dicing, mixing, are heated or cooled to ambient, refrigerated, or frozen condition and are packaged for portability and shelf life.