Business Monday: Two conferences aim to educate food preservers, fruit growers

New entrepreneurs can enhance their skills by learning to preserve locally grown foods at a new conference taking place at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel in October.

The Hawaiʻi Master Food Preservers, an organization focused on advancing entrepreneurial skills and workforce development, will debut its first conference on Thursday, Oct. 23. This event coincides with the 35th Hawaiʻi International Tropical Fruit Growers Conference, running from Friday, Oct. 24, through Sunday, Oct. 26.

“The food preservers conference is a great opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to discover our evolving local food cottage industry,” said Ken Love, president of the Hawaiʻi Master Food Preservers and executive director of Hawaiʻi Tropical Fruit Growers. “Those wishing to sell their canned, pickled, fermented, dehydrated, and frozen products to retail stores, online, and farmers markets should attend.”

The Hawaiʻi Master Food Preservers program educates community members on how to safely develop, prepare, package, and market value-added products through eight days of course instruction. The organization helps ensure that students’ endeavors succeed and impact island sustainability.

Participants will learn how to process and preserve locally grown fruit, produce, and proteins, develop value-added products, and receive guidance on packaging, understanding production costs, and current cottage industry rules. The program offers tips on marketing safe, shelf-stable products.

The food preservers event will include:

• Presentations on pectin
• Value-added product development and food safety
• The state’s new cottage industry laws and updates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
• U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center
• The Maui Innovation Center

Dr. Carla Schwan, director of the National Center for Home Food Preservation, and Derek Kurisu, a KTA champion in fostering Hawaiʻi food sustainability, will host a panel to discuss current successful preserved food products.

The Hawaiʻi Tropical Fruit Growers, dedicated to tropical fruit research, education, marketing, and promotion, will follow the Hawaiʻi Master Food Preservers with both conferences sharing the theme “Digging Deeper.”

The fruit growers event is aimed at farmers, educators, orchard managers, and proponents of sustainable agriculture. It serves as a focal point for information and training in the industry.

The range of timely topics includes industry news, trends, and new research, such as developing value-added products from off-grade tropical fruits—those that do not meet commercial export or sale standards but are still edible.

Dr. Yoshimi Yonemoto will deliver a keynote address on “Pruning, Pollination, and Predictions to Produce More Fruit,” and the conference will offer educational sessions on growing dwarf trees and creating healthy soil and quality crops.

Along with a trade show and popular fruit tasting, discussions will cover agricultural theft, new local research, and legislative updates. Attendees are also invited to tour local farms on the final day of the conference.

According to the Hawaiʻi Tropical Fruit Growers, the tropical fruit industry is rapidly growing across the state, alongside the expansion of its membership, which includes small and commercial growers, rare fruit tree collectors, nurseries, packers, wholesalers, and manufacturers.

The West Hawaiʻi Chapter recently introduced tropical fruit posters and cards to promote Hawaiʻi’s many tropical fruit varieties to chefs, retailers, and consumers at trade shows, food festivals, and industry events.

The conferences are made possible by support from the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture and organization members across the state. More information on both conferences and registration can be found at the Hawaiʻi Master Food Preservers website and the Hawaiʻi Tropical Fruit Growers website.