Common Ground
Jennifer Luck, chief operating officer
As it says in its mission statement, Common Ground is “building the farm of the future.”
The multifaceted Kauai business focuses on food innovation, with a wide array of programming including farming operations, incubator and accelerator programs, and its own distribution channel for food producers and entrepreneurs.
Common Ground launched an e-commerce platform at the end of 2020, and sales have increased month-over-month for 2021-22. Its philanthropic arm, CG Foundation, also is slated to start its second incubator cohort for early-stage food and beverage businesses later this month.
commongroundkauai.com
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Kuehnle AgroSystems
Heidi Kuehnle, chief technical officer and co-founder
A biotechnology company, Kuehnle AgroSystems aims to reshape conventional food systems through the research, development and production of specialty chemicals and raw materials.
The company utilizes algae and tropical botanicals for application in aqua feeds, food and personal care products.
In April, it closed a Series A funding round with new investor, Aqua-Spark, securing $3.2 million. In a statement announcing the funding, the company explained that the Aqua-Spark investment would “support the transfer of [Kuehnle AgroSystems’] pioneering technology to industrial scale.”
In the past year, Kuehnle AgroSystems also has earned approval for patents on three products.
kuehnleagro.com
Pono Pacific Land Management
Jonathan Marstaller, president
Founded in 2000, Pono Pacific Land Management has grown into a multi-faceted company whose work spans trail repair, ecosystem restoration, watershed protection and food innovation. Through contracts with both private and government landowners, Pono Pacific currently manages 16,000 acres of land across six islands.
One of the company’s recent projects is a new roadside farm stand in partnership with Turtle Bay Resort’s Kuilima Farm. Pono manages 468 acres of agricultural land at Kuilima Farm, and in 2021 opened the stand as a place for the farmers to sell their goods. Under Pono’s management, the farm has increased food production by 635%.
Pono Pacific is also in the process of building the longest predator-proof fence in the U.S. — a more than 2-mile-long structure within the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge on Kauai. The fence will enclose 168 acres of the refuge, helping to protect thousands of migratory and native birds from non-native predators.
Ponopacific.com
Piko Provisions
Ethan West, founder and CEO
Ethan West founded baby food company Piko Provisions with the goal of providing the best food possible to keiki in Hawaii and beyond.
Piko utilizes locally grown fruits and vegetables, including nutrient-rich superfoods such as taro, Okinawan sweet potato, banana, breadfruit and pineapple. Each Piko product is all-natural, with no artificial ingredients.
Since its launch at the end of 2020, the company has achieved rapid growth: It’s expanded from having products in just one store in December 2020 to over 135 retail locations and has a year-over-year monthly growth rate of 70%.
Part of Piko Provisions’ goal is to support local farmers and other producers, in an effort to help build a more sustainable agriculture industry. To that end, it has 150 farming partners across the state, and has sourced nearly 18,000 pounds of locally grown food.
pikoprovisions.com
Smart Yields
Ryan Ozawa, co-founder and CEO
Agricultural tech firm Smart Yields brings the benefits of technology to the world of farming.
Founded in 2015, Smart Yields combines real-time monitoring, data analytics, and digital agronomy for agricultural use into a mobile app designed for use in the field. The goal is to help farmers optimize yields in order to grow their businesses and support their communities.
Some of the company’s past work, for example, has included a project with the Kohala Institute on Hawaii Island, where it placed sensors to monitor soil in the area in order to identify optimal growing conditions and maximize water use. More recently, it created an app called Best Beans that monitors coffee leaf rust and coffee berry borers — two big threats to coffee crops — and provides a customized field report and recommendations.
smartyields.com
