The Agriculture Innovation Center (AIC) Collaboration Session was held to engage a broad range of agricultural stakeholders in shaping the design and functionality of the proposed AIC. The session brought together 48 participants, including producers, processors, and service providers, to provide insights on how the AIC can best meet the needs of Hawaiʻi Island’s agricultural community. The session began with an introduction from Doug Adams, Director of Research & Development for the County of Hawaiʻi, followed by presentations from Kristin Frost Albrecht (The Food Basket) and Sarah Freeman (County of Hawaiʻi), who explained the AIC's role in the coalition’s Phase 2 BBBRC grant proposal. A data presentation from Andrea Carbine (New Venture Advisors) and Dennis Flemming (Hamakua Institute) provided detailed insights into value chain opportunities and identified gaps in processing, marketing, and producer support.
Following the presentations, participants broke into discussion groups to analyze the data, identify critical challenges, and recommend solutions to enhance the AIC’s design and impact. Key themes emerging from these discussions included the urgent need for centralized support for food safety certification, including a dedicated food lab to support testing and compliance. Participants also emphasized the importance of developing satellite mobile kitchens to enable smaller producers in remote areas to prepare and aggregate products before accessing centralized processing facilities. The need for increased educational resources on food production, recipes, and legal compliance was also highlighted, with participants stressing that farmers excel at production but often require support in business planning, marketing, and distribution.
Participants further emphasized the need for improved networking between buyers and producers to strengthen market connections. Key recommendations included better coordination of services and programs to assist producers with scaling up, enhancing producer-to-producer learning networks, and ensuring equitable access to AIC resources. In closing, participants highlighted the potential for value-added product development in areas such as tropical fruits, dairy, and aquaculture, with a focus on supporting small and mid-sized producers through shared infrastructure and cooperative models. The session concluded with a commitment to ongoing dialogue and stakeholder engagement to refine the AIC’s development strategy and ensure it effectively addresses the unique needs of Hawaiʻi Island’s agricultural sector.