Most people don’t think of Kakaako as a hub for agriculture, but that’s exactly what it is for MetroGrow Hawaii, a commercial indoor vertical farm, producing lettuce and other leafy greens.
The business has a 2,000-square-foot growing space, which is about a block from Ward Avenue and about three blocks from Salt at Our Kakaako, said founder Kerry Kakazu. MetroGrow Hawaii grows its produce using aeroponic and hydroponic technologies, alternatives to traditional field farming that require “less land, water and time while generating produce free of pest or pesticides,”according to the company’s website. The company is about 40% solar powered, he told Pacific Business News.
Founded in 2014, MetroGrow Hawaii started in Kakaako as a part-time project; Kakuzu worked full-time as part of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center’s project management team while MetroGrow’s building was being constructed. According to him, the company’s start-up costs were self-funded by savings and a few small private loans.
Today, the company sells its items to restaurants and hotels including Fête, MW Restaurant, Wasabi Bistro, Yohei Sushi, Prince Waikiki, Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa, Tiki’s Bar and Grill and Pesca Waikiki Beach, as well as entities such as ChefZone, Foodland Farms and Manson Products, Kakazu said, adding that about 75% of sales are from restaurants, stores and wholesalers, with the rest from individuals buying through the company’s website and farmers markets.
Kakazu spoke with PBN about plans for the future, including a partnership with Kaimuki High School that will bring vertical farming to the campus with pledged funding from the state Department of Education and Ulupono Initiative.
What is the biggest challenge facing the business right now? We’re just trying to keep our expenses down. Again, energy is a big thing for us, because we’re growing indoors, so we need lights. I sure didn’t anticipate how much electricity costs were gonna go up in the last three years. Like I said, if we could fit more solar, I would try and get more solar. Unfortunately, [it’s] a limited space. And then well, rent is pretty predictable, but that has increased a little bit over the years. ... That’s actually probably our biggest expense.
How do you plan to grow the company in 2024? We’ve been talking when people have visited us — and we’ve gotten a lot of the state legislators come through and say, “Oh, this would be great for growing more food for Hawaii – local food.” ... Again, with lighting being so expensive, really what I want to look at is to do a larger type of vertical, protected farm, but something that we could maybe let the sunlight in, so like a greenhouse-type structure. ... The company [with the technology I was looking for] is called Sky Greens ... It’s like a Ferris wheel for plants. So they put these rows and trays of plants, the way we grow — vertically — but they put it on a rotating A-frame, so the plants can rotate through the sunlight. So instead of a greenhouse where you can only usually plant one level of plants, they can go up about 24 of these trays and go up about 20 feet high, and the plants just kind of slowly go through the sun, evenly.
Can you share more about the upcoming partnership with Kaimuki High School? They’re going to get two of those [Sky Greens towers], and we just got approval for the funding, so we hope that sometime this summer, we can start building it. ... My part of it is: I train the students, help them learn about growing in this kind of system, and then I get to show other businesses and potential investors: “Hey, this is what we can do on a larger scale to grow more local food.”
What made you select Kakaako as the site of your farm? The more I thought about it from a marketing standpoint, it made sense to be in town. The other thing ... [is] chefs call me up and say, “Oh, I need this, can I come now?” If we were in the North Shore or Waianae, that would not be practical.
MetroGrow Hawaii
Kerry Kakazu, president and owner
Address: 812 Kawaiahao St., Honolulu, HI 96813
Phone: 808-255-3002
Email: kerryk@metrogrowhawaii.com
Website: metrogrowhawaii.com
