Business Monday: He went from telescope engineer to making craft chocolate in Honokaʻa
It took a few years to have a significant harvest, but now the Pollard's farm has more than 1,000 producing cacao trees, each of which yields five pounds of chocolate each season.
Mike Pollard was a senior engineer at the W.M. Keck Observatory in 2013 when he and his wife, Rhonda, purchased the Kahi Ola Mau Farm in Honokaʻa and planted several things, including their first cacao plant.
Pollard grew up on his family’s farm in California and after college worked in aerospace engineering. Rhonda Pollard has had a life-long love of the outdoors and completed a graduate internship for the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources with hopes of returning to Hawaiʻi one day.
When Mike Pollard decided to take a job at the Waimea-based observatory, the couple found their way to Hawaiʻi Island and purchased 5 acres of land to put their agriculture and land knowledge to use on their own venture.
“We planted a lot of different stuff at first because we weren’t sure what would do well here,” Rhonda Pollard said. “The cacao trees ended up growing so well and producing quickly on the farm, and Mike quickly began obsessing over the idea of growing cacao and learning to make chocolate from scratch.”
Mike Pollard used his science background and began to study and read everything he could about growing chocolate.
“I didn’t know anything about growing or making chocolate, so I really had to develop knowledge with help from a local mentor,” he said. “There were a few years when the chocolate was just not as good as I knew it could be. There was a lot of trial and error like any new experiment.”
It took a few years to have a significant harvest, but now the Pollards’ farm has more than 1,000 producing cacao trees, each of which yields five pounds of chocolate each season.
In 2017, the Pollards established Honokaʻa Chocolate Co. on the Hāmākua Coast with the goal of making artisanal, premium chocolate using the highest quality cacao and organic cane sugar, sourced locally from Hawaiʻi Island and ethically from sustainable farms worldwide.
While Mike Pollard took on the role as CEO of Honokaʻa Chocolate Co., Rhonda Pollard decided to work as the social media marketing manager, so she could dedicate her time to work at her day job with the pet company, Lava Dogs.
Cacao pods- Cacao seeds
- Mixing milk chocolate
- Dark chocolate samples
Using his own cacao plants to create chocolate inspired him to continue sourcing the finest ingredients around. That passion, along with his meticulous methods as a scientist, led Mike Pollard to find a winning combination of precision and the art of chocolate making.
“We use our beans for a good portion of the chocolate we make, but most of it comes from other Big Island farms,” Mike Pollard said. “Six of our nine chocolates are 100% Hawaiian grown, and we are very proud of that fact, especially since they are all made without fillers or artificial flavors.”
Honokaʻa Chocolate Co. has nine regular products: Hawaiian Dark Chocolate 85%, Hawaiian Dark Chocolate 70%, Hawaiian Dark Chocolate with Coconut Milk, Milk Chocolate, Goat Milk Chocolate, Drunken Goat Milk Chocolate, Barrel Aged Rum Bar, Barrel Aged Rum Bar with Coconut Milk, and Barrel Aged Bourbon Bar.
The dark chocolate is made with two ingredients: premium cacao and organic cane sugar, crafted without fillers or emulsifiers.
Mike Pollard said pure dark chocolate can improve heart health by enhancing blood flow, uplift emotions due to the organic compounds found in cacao, and has antioxidants that protect cells and slow aging.
“Since I started dedicating my life to Honokaʻa Chocolate Co., it has become important to me to change everything about the way people think about chocolate,” Mike Pollard said. “This starts with shedding light on where it comes from. There are real atrocities attached to the industry, and not many people are aware.”
According to the Pollards, 70 to 75 percent of cacao beans are imported from Ghana and Ivory Coast, where big corporations source their supply. With minimally-paid labor, including children, the beans are much cheaper than those that are ethically-sourced.
For Honokaʻa Chocolate Co., the milk chocolate beans they use are mostly from Ecuador, which is notably where Belgian companies buy their beans.
“We are able to call our chocolates premium because we do absolutely everything we can to make the best and most ethical choices when it comes to ingredients,” Mike Pollard said. “If a consumer spends a little more, they know exactly where their chocolate is coming from, and it ultimately lasts longer since it’s better quality and more satisfying.”
In 2020, Mike Pollard began seeing success when he started entering Honokaʻa Chocolate Co. products into competitions, which he said has earned the company more than 60 national and international awards.
“The awards are validation that doing the extra work, like measuring the viscosity (how thick or thin it is when melted) and the quality of temper (structural quality once it sets) and carefully selecting premium beans, are completely worth it,” Mike Pollard said. “We are consistently producing a world-class product.”
In 2021, Mike Pollard was able to leave his job as an engineer at the telescope and focus on growing cacao trees and developing chocolate. Then in 2023, Honokaʻa Chocolate Co. acquired a retail shop and production facility in the heart of Honokaʻa town.
“We feel so blessed to have our farm and factory in Honokaʻa,” he said. “We’ve been here since 2013 and are not leaving anytime soon. We love this community.”
With visitors in the retail shop, online orders and relationships with other farmers and producers, Honokaʻa Chocolate Co. has been blossoming into a full-time operation attracting customers from beyond Hawaiʻi.
Part of that operation includes offering an immersive two-hour guided tour and chocolate tasting, which includes:
- One-hour guided tour of the orchard: Participants learn about cacao, like how to grow the trees, harvesting, fermentation, drying of cacao beans and the resting period.
- Chocolate tasting of nine of the current award-winning chocolates, similar to a wine tasting: Participants learn how to taste chocolate while learning the history of cacao, its health benefits, and the chocolate-making process from roasting to tempering
- Tour of the downtown Honokaʻa retail store and production facility one mile from the farm: Participants take a short guided tour of the chocolate-making facility, with opportunities to taste a few more chocolates and make purchases.
Along with continuing operations on the Big Island, Mike Pollard also has big plans for the national market and hopes to make Honokaʻa Chocolate Co. a well-known name and show chocolate connoisseurs the high quality of Hawaiʻi Island-grown chocolate.
“I’ll begin traveling to the mainland soon to meet with chefs, sommeliers and specialty shops to expand our reach and get the chocolate in more places,” he said. “We have a lot of big plans.”
The Honokaʻa Chocolate Co. store is open to shop and sample from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day at 45-3587 Mamane St.
For more information on tours, tastings, purchasing chocolate online, or joining their subscription service, visit honokaachocolateco.com.
