This year, we mark a special milestone: nine years of Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative serving local farmers and communities across the islands. From our beginnings in 2016 with just nine founding members, the cooperative has grown into a thriving network of nearly 200 farmers, working together to strengthen Hawaiʻi’s food system.

From our small beginnings with limited infrastructure, our path of growth has not been without its challenges. We navigated the upheaval of the pandemic, when customer needs and accounts shifted overnight, and continue to stay nimble as inflation stretches resources thin in our pursuit to remain competitive. Our ʻohana and members have been touched by natural disasters, from lava flows to hurricanes, droughts and fires, and we remain resilient in the face of unpredictable climate changes that render harvest projections uncertain. And this year, unexpected grant losses slowed our agroforestry momentum, even as the need for regenerative farming grows more urgent. 

Yet through it all, our cooperative has remained steadfast in pursuing a unique and ambitious goal: to grow demand for ʻulu and co-crops all while supporting an increase in their production — ensuring that as more trees are planted and harvests rise, so too does the ‘ono and infrastructure to sustain a truly resilient, Hawaiʻi-grown food system.

Over the past nine years, our collective efforts have added up to something incredible: