State lawmakers have approved a bill aimed at protecting local macadamia nut farmers. It now awaits the governor’s signature to become law.
Similar to a coffee labeling measure passed this year, the macadamia nut bill would require sold packages to disclose if they contain foreign-grown nuts.
The bill would target macadamia nut brands that continue to advertise their products as locally grown, even though the nuts are imported to Hawaiʻi.
House Bill 2278 doesn’t include the popular chocolate-covered macadamia nuts or foods with multiple ingredients. It only applies to those with “seasonings and flavorings.” However, proponents of the bill say it's an improvement.
“ It's something that really moves us in a step forward that encourages marketers of Hawaiian-grown products and marketers who use Hawaiian names … to market their products to include more Hawaiʻi-grown macadamia nuts, and that's a real positive step and something that we really are encouraged about,” said Nathan Trump, general manager for Island Harvest Hawaiʻi.
Macadamia nuts are one of the state’s top agricultural commodities, valued between $40 million and more than $62 million per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state Department of Agriculture.
But local macadamia nut farmers have endured a rough few years. Data from the USDA showed a roughly 29% drop in utilized production of local macadamia nuts last year compared to 2021. The department says the price of Hawaiʻi-grown macadamia nuts last year was $0.84 per pound — the lowest since 2012.
The USDA said pests and marketing challenges, including sellers who mix cheaper and imported macadamia nuts with locally sourced ones, have contributed to the downturn.
Rep. Kirstin Kahaloa, who introduced HB2278, said those struggles prompted the introduction of the measure.
“There was a big decline from 2020 to 2021, so it just put the issue on high alert that there's something going on in the industry. … That's where macadamia nut labeling came into play,” she said.
Kahaloa wasn’t sure any agricultural labeling laws would be passed this year to protect consumers and local farmers, but lawmakers managed to move HB2278 for macadamia nuts and a similar bill for coffee farmers, who for decades have been trying to fight deceptive labeling on packages of coffee.
She said the macadamia nut bill was passed so the focus could move toward increasing the state's processing capacity, specifically after the recent loss of a local macadamia nut facility.
“This labeling law is just the start. We need to expand processing capacity for the industry to grow,” Kahaloa said.
