Island Harvest Hawai‘i in a Macadamia Nutshell—a Long Story About a Love for Farming and Giving Back

What’s sadder than an old man riding a tandem cruiser bike by himself? Not a lot is, but I think locking up one’s sense of curiosity in a box is up there. Whether it’s questioning the validity of conspiracy theory du jour or wondering about more serious mysteries like how do they fit those ornately carved, tiny, wooden sailboats in those wine bottles—we must not stop wondering because everything and everyone has a story, and this includes our food and the people who grow them.

This weekend’s story is on Island Harvest Hawai‘i, a certified organic macadamia nut farm on Hawai‘i Island. The farm, which spans over 700 acres in North Kohala is about the size of 530 football fields. I like to visualize this expansiveness as a tennis fan which equals about 11,200 tennis courts. This visual image of rectangles where love means nothing (it’s a tennis scoring if you’re unfamiliar) is ironic in that Island Harvest’s commitment to be outstanding stewards of the land and to take care of the people it employs and the community that supports it and it strives to support back, is based on a whole lot of love.

Jim Trump (no relations to the ex-POTUS) was a schoolteacher who dabbled in farming and farm managing. In his 40’s at the time, Jim’s change of career path led him to Kohala’s agricultural lands in the post-sugar era when he founded Island Harvest in 1991.

“He liked being around trees and animals more than kids,” Jim’s son, Andrew joked.

Andrew had a different idea about farming when he was growing up.  “I didn’t love the idea of becoming a farmer,” he said. Working on farm chores in high school and being on the mower all the time didn’t help lure him to the family business, but his time away from the farm to go to school in Illinois and work other jobs gave him clarity. Like the apple, the mac nut doesn’t fall too far from the tree, after all. “I realized that I wanted to be a part of Hawai‘i’s tree crop farmers.”

Andrew and his brother Nathan manage the farm which achieved organic certification in 2015. “We wanted to do our part in committing to stewarding the agricultural lands of Kohala,” Andrew said.

Island Harvest believes in giving back. One hundred percent of Island Harvest products profits goes back to their trifecta of priorities; the land, the people who work it, and the community that supports it. Island Harvest believes deeply in organic and regenerative farming methods, so 50% of profits directly enable them to spread more compost, plant more trees, and nurture activities that improve soil and tree health.

Twenty-five percent of profits are shared across approximately 20 employees, some of whom have been with the company for 20 years. Andrew believes that they are the backbone of the company that makes the products possible.

Lastly, Island Harvest believes that farming should benefit the community, so 25% of profits go toward programs that support the small community of Kohala in partnership with the North Kohala Community Resource Center and other community organizations.

Island Harvest has 40,000 macadamia nut trees (and 200 breadfruit trees) on their farm. The trees take seven years to mature and bear fruits but don’t fully mature until age 15. Harvest season begins in summer and ends in January. Per season, the farm yields 1.5 million pounds of nuts (in-shell).

Island Harvest may be a mover and a shaker in the mac nut organic farming field, but when it comes to their trees, they like to let things fall naturally, as opposed to shaking the trees which is bad for them. The nuts are ripe when they fall to the ground, where they are harvested using mechanical harvesters. In a nutshell, once harvested, the nuts run through a husker that strips their outer layer (this material is then added it the compost the farm uses), dried, cracked open, roasted, and packaged.

In 2020, these pouches of buttery deliciousness flavored by hard labor, love, and commitment to sustainable farming allowed Island Harvest to give back close to $150,000 to its employees and the Kohala community. The family-operated orchard joins our marketplace with three different types of pouched goodness: unsalted, salted, and chocolate-covered. If you’re lucky enough to snag a bag of these nuts, not only are you supporting responsible farming and community growth, but you could also be snacking on a historic level because a small section of the farm has a line of over century-old trees that still produce to this day. How cool is that!

Shop Island Harvest Hawai‘i macadamia nuts on our marketplace now and for the freshest inventory of products from our amazing farmers, ranchers, and food producers for Sunday and Monday deliveries.