What if businesses were built not just to profit, but to empower people and communities? That was the driving spirit behind Hawaiʻi’s first statewide cooperative business gathering, hosted by the University of Hawaiʻi’s Ke Ō Mau Center for Sustainable Food Systems.
More than 40 cooperative ventures, many focused on agriculture, came together in a first-of-its-kind convening. A collaborative effort between Enlivened Cooperative, Purple Maiʻa, Kauaʻi Credit Union and UH Mānoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience helped organize the event to spotlight a powerful, but often overlooked, part of the state’s economy.
Starting small, growing great
A standout example is the Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Producers Cooperative. Since launching in 2015 with just nine members, it has grown to nearly 200 farmer-owners cultivating more than 600,000 pounds of breadfruit and other crops annually. The cooperative’s success shows how they can achieve what individual farmers often cannot: shared infrastructure, larger markets and collective impact.
“For emerging crops such as breadfruit that are grown primarily by small farmers, the cooperative model offers an unmatched tool for industry development and economic viability that is equitable and just,” said Dana Shapiro, CEO of the ʻulu cooperative. “Co-ops offer small Hawaiʻi farmers solutions for scaling and success.”
Shared challenges, building momentum
Noa Lincoln, a professor of Indigenous crops and cropping systems at CTAHR, is co-director of the Ke Ō Mau Center and believes this approach embodies UH’s goal of becoming a Native Hawaiian place of learning.
“It’s more than just language or traditions. It’s about truly bringing forward Hawaiian values and actions into our modern society,” Lincoln said. “I think there’s a responsibility for the university to be involved in this type of work.”
The event gave cooperatives a rare chance to connect, share successes and challenges, and build momentum for long-term growth.
“Particularly with our Indigenous crops, which shouldn’t be owned or dominated by any one company, I think cooperative business structures provide an excellent opportunity for scaling local food production in Hawaiʻi,” Lincoln said.
