You may know that Kona-grown coffee beans are among the most expensive and sought-after in the world. But did you know that world-class, award-winning coffee is now commercially grown throughout Hawaii? In fact, it’s one of our largest crops grown here in the islands.

Hawaii-grown coffee is some of the best in the world and should be treated well to ensure you make the most of it. We asked Jim Lenhart, a self-confessed coffee addict and vice president of sales for Hawaii Coffee Company for some tips:

Choose wisely. Because most Hawaiian coffee is more delicate than others, a medium to medium-dark roast is best. If you roast Kona too dark, it starts to lose its natural characteristics.

Whole or ground? And the winner is… whole beans. Every coffee bean contains oils and essences that are released when the bean is ground, so it’s best to grind the coffee right before you brew.

Keep the bean pristine. Once you’ve opened the bag and the coffee is exposed to oxygen, it has about two weeks before the taste begins to change. If the bag is unopened, you can keep it in the fridge for about a year, but never freeze it! Moisture will spoil the beans.

In search of the perfect pupu for your next party? Try the amazing, incomparable Smoked Ahi Spread from KokoHead Foods! A favorite of all of us at Foodland and many of our customers, this locally made dip is so delicious that you’ll keep wanting more.

Developed nearly 20 years ago by Chef Kevin Hanney, owner of Kaimuki’s popular 12th Ave Grill and Koko Head Café, this island inspired pupufeatures Pacific-caught ahi brined with a secret recipe, then hot smoked and mixed with mayonnaise, lemon, and spices. 12th Ave Grill’s Chef Ryan Durham says the restaurant has incorporated the spread into such diverse items as Nicoise salad, sushi, and ravioli.

Here are some of our favorite ways to use this great local product to create delicious pupu your friends and family will love.

• Spread the Love – Serve it with your favorite lavosh or crackers.

• Stuff it – Put it into your favorite local tomatoes and garnish with chopped cilantro or sliced green onions.

• Melt Away – Warm and comforting, Chef Ryan’s recipe for Smoked Ahi Bruschetta topped with Hearts of Palm Relish (featured below) is sure to be a crowd pleaser!

• Get Rolling – Layer rice on nori, add a layer of smoked ahi spread, cucumbers, avocadoes, a little furikake, then roll and slice.

• Double Dip – serve as a dip with carrots, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes and more.

When you eat local tomatoes, you’re enjoying the fruit of three months of a Hawaii farmer’s loving care. “There’s a lot of time invested in each crop before it’s delivered,” says Shin Ho of Oahu-based Ho Farms. Tomatoes are the best-selling crop on her family’s farm and take up the most acreage.

Handpicked at peak ripeness and quickly brought to market, Ho Farms Family Tomatoes are packed by hand and showcase a beautiful rainbow of colors and varieties— cherry, baby Roma, golden grape, currant and Kahuku golden, Shin talked Hawaii-grown tomatoes with us so we could share some of her secrets with you.

• Local Mo Bettah!
Shin explains that local tomatoes are fresher and more nutritious: “It’s four days from our farm to grocery store shelves. The tomatoes that come from the Mainland are at least another week older.”

• Color Matters
How to select a great tomato according to Shin: “Deep color, whether it’s red, orange, or purple. Deep color is all about flavor and means the tomato is going to be more ripe. There should be no blemishes on the skin. And make sure it looks firm.”

• Personal Fave
Shin shares, “I am a cherry girl! Cherry tomatoes are my favorite because I like that they’re sweet and tart and juicy, and have the true tomato flavor.”

• How You Eat Them
“Just fresh! I also like cherry tomatoes in green papaya salad. We start with two to three chili peppers and pound them up with a piece of garlic. We put in lime juice, sugar and fish sauce. My mom will put long beans in, too. Then shredded papaya, cherry tomatoes and mix it all up. My mom tops it with peanuts.”

Check out our Toy Box Tomato Salad recipe below for another great way to eat local Ho Farms tomatoes!

A leafy vegetable considered by some to look too healthy and green to taste good, kale has won converts all over the world. Here in Hawaii, kale is now grown by a number of local farmers including MA‘O Organic Farms, a non-profit certified organic farm in the heart of Waianae Valley. Led by Gary Maunakea-Forth and his wife Kukui, MA‘O – an acronym for mala (garden) ‘ai (food) ‘opio (youth), or youth food garden — grows 40 to 50 types of produce, some of which are delivered fresh to select Foodland stores each week. Interestingly, kale is the farm’s most popular item!

Farm manager Kaui Sana hadn’t tried kale until she started working as a student intern at MA‘O at age 17 and began bringing kale home to her family. It wasn’t a big hit at first, so Kaui had a secret weapon to win everyone over. “The first thing I did was stir fry it with bacon,” she explains. That got them interested!” Now one of her mom’s favorite dishes is kalua pig and kale!

Try It, You’ll Like It!
Still not convinced? Here are a few more reasons why you should make kale a part of your weekly diet – plus some tips on how to make sure it tastes great too!

• It’s Super! Kale is a “superfood.” Considered one of the healthiest vegetables in the world, kale is exceptionally nutrient rich, loaded with beneficial compounds, and especially stands out for its anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer nutrients.

• One kale or another? Different varieties of kale have different taste, texture and color. Curly kale is bright green with ruffled edges and has a pungent flavor with peppery and slightly bitter qualities, while Lacinato or dinosaur kale has bluish green leaves, firm texture, and a flavor that is deep and earthy with nutty sweetness.

• Tough Love. Kale’s strong, tough taste and texture helps it stand up to other intense flavors. “You can pair it with real strong cheese like feta. Or bacon bits,” suggests Gary. And because kale leaves don’t wilt easily, it makes a great choice for a picnic salad.

• Give it a massage. Kale’s toughness can be broken down with a little time and tender, loving care. Massage it with a bit of oil and lemon juice and wait a few minutes. “It’ll break down into a light-colored green. Then add some cheese and fresh-ground pepper,” says Kaui.

• Luau Style. Gary compares kale’s earthy taste and versatility to luau leaf. He and Kaui agree it goes particularly well with pork. Try lau lau wrapped in kale or kalua pig with kale instead of cabbage.

• Work Up Some Steam! Unlike spinach or Chinese choys which lose a lot of volume when steamed, mighty kale holds up. Gary suggests stir-frying it with garlic and onions, then steaming it down with a bit of wine “to add a bit of sweetness.”

• Kale, yes! Kale can be used in a variety of ways so experiment and have some fun. “My dad makes smoothies with it,” says Kaui. “I wilted it in pasta for my family. Once I started loving it, I would make kale chips.”

A favorite of many of us here in Hawaii, the mighty macadamia nut is the star of savory snacks and sweet treats made by a variety of producers. What makes the macadamia nuts from Hawaii’s Local Buzz stand out from the crowd is not only its unique flavors – garlic Parmesan, sweet and smoky, vanilla crunch, cinnamon bun crunch and more – but also the company’s hands-on approach to growing, harvesting and processing the 100% Hawaiian nuts on its farm on the Big Island of Hawaii.

“We are very much a family operation, with ohana doing everything from deciding on flavors to sorting nuts by hand!” says Jan Au of Hawaii’s Local Buzz. “Nuts are dehydrated, not roasted, which creates a crunchier and crisper nut that tastes very fresh,” explains Au.

Au shares that Macadamia nuts can be used for just about anything – baked goods, savory dishes, salads, cooking oil, nut butter, and shells are even useful as compost. In addition, they are versatile and can have many health benefits when eaten in moderation.

Hawaii’s Local Buzz Macadamia Nuts are great on their own, but here are some other ways to add some nuttiness to your life:

• Crunch Time: Add them to roasted vegetables, salads, oatmeal or even ice cream as a crunchy topping. You’ll add great flavor and the fiber and protein content of the nuts will help keep you full.

• Surprise and Delight: Coarsely grind mac nuts and add to panko to bread chicken, fish or pork. Bake for a wonderfully flavorful nutty version of katsu.

• Switch it up! Macadamia nuts have an unmistakably rich, buttery taste that distinguishes them from other nuts. Replace almonds, walnuts or peanuts with mac nuts in your favorite cookie, bread or candy recipe and take these treats to another level. Swapping works with other dishes too! Try mac nuts instead of pine nuts in pesto or add them to your poke instead of inamona.

Passionate about finding a way to ensure the amazing organic honey produced by her fourth generation beekeeper husband Garnett Puett remained pure and undiluted, Whendi Grad took matters into her own hands and founded Big Island Bees. With bees that produce about 600,000 pounds of honey annually, this family-owned and operated company is now one of the most prolific suppliers of Hawaiian honey in the nation.

One of the characteristics that makes the honey from Big Island Bees so special is that each variety is made purely from the nectar of one Hawaii island flower: ohia lehua, macadamia nut, or wilekaiki (Christmas berry). Bees won’t travel far from the hive area if they can find nectar to feed on nearby, so Garnett locates his hives in remote locations where the specific flowers are in abundance. This helps ensure the honey comes from a single type of flower and showcases the unique flavor of the nectar. And because Big Island Bees doesn’t heat, filter, or blend its organic honey, the product doesn’t lose its antioxidants or beneficial enzymes.

Garnett also takes great care of his bees. Although Hawaii’s mild climate keeps flowers blooming throughout the year, he doesn’t harvest during the winter months so that his bees can rest and enjoy their honey themselves!

Sweet Talk
Here are a few more things you might not know about honey.

• Let it Bee! When sealed airtight, honey never spoils. In fact, unlike the bees that produce it, honey has an eternal life.

• That’s My Honey – Your favorite honey may depend on taste and what types you’ve tried. As Whendi explains, “There are probably more than 300 types of honey produced in the U.S.” and looks can be deceiving. Interestingly, according to Whendi, paler honeys are just as rich and intensely flavored as darker ones.

• Bee-u-tiful! Whendi loves giving herself a regular honey facial and says that honey’s moisture-attracting and antiseptic properties really hydrate and cleanse the skin. “After you wash your face, apply the honey,” she instructs, “then rinse off in the shower. It gives your skin a beautiful glow!”

• White Knight – Big Island Bees’ most distinctive product is the creamy white honey from the ohia lehua blossom. The unique color and texture are a result of this flower’s nectar to crystallize quickly. It must be extracted from the comb and packed quickly to be workable. The result is a wonderful, spreadable treat – perfect on toast!

• To Bee or Not to Bee – Wondering whether you should incorporate honey into your diet? Consider this: honey is the only food that contains all the substances necessary to sustain life – including water.

The phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” holds true when buying Hawaii citrus fruit. Because Hawaii lacks the big swings in temperature that cause citrus fruit to develop its color, the skin of our local citrus is often spotty and less uniform looking than that of Mainland relatives. But don’t let the “ugly” exterior fool you or you will miss out! In fact, Hawaii citrus are sweeter than California citrus– and fresher too!

Here in Hawaii, our local farmers grow a wide variety of citrus — oranges, lemons, limes and tangerines, as well as tangelos, grapefruit, Meyer lemons, pummelo (jabong), calamansi and Buddha’s hand. And Foodland is proud to work with many farmers across the state to bring you the best citrus available in Hawaii. Taste our local citrus alongside mainland imports and you, too, will understand why local mo bettah!

Here are some helpful ways to use local citrus to freshen up:

• Citrus A-peel: Dice citrus peel and run a tablespoon or two through the garbage disposal to fight funky odors.

• Scrub-a-dub-dub: Keep cut halves after you’ve juiced them and put them to use. Sprinkle the cut side liberally with Hawaiian salt and use to scrub the kitchen sink or pans. Citrus oils help cut through the grease and the salt is a non-toxic abrasive that can help bring your stainless steel sink or pans back to a shine.

• Soften Up: To soften the rough skin on your elbows, cut a lemon or grapefruit in half and sit with your elbows propped in each half for five to ten minutes. Then rinse and moisturize!

• Take a Bath: Float sliced citrus in your bathwater. The vitamins and acid will promote healthy skin while the fresh scent will give a boost of energy to your mind, body, and spirit.

• Finishing Touch: Splash a little citrus juice into a pan sauce once you’ve removed it from the heat and just before serving, to add a bright flavor to your favorite dish.

There’s nothing quite like a really fresh egg!   In fact, if you compare mainland and local eggs side by side, you’ll find that local eggs have better taste and texture – not to mention that they make the perfect Loco Moco!

But success hasn’t come easy to local egg farms.  Minda Takaki, farm manager of Maili Moa Farms that produces Shaka Moa eggs explains that  business was initially tough for the local, family-owned company run by her husband Mark because mainland eggs were so much cheaper.  But thanks to local customers who support local farmers, Shaka Moa is now going strong with more than 12,000 chickens producing well over one million eggs a year at their cage-free farm.

You may be amazed to learn that Shaka Moa eggs are on Foodland’s shelves fewer than seven days after they’ve been collected and sorted at the Waianae farm.  Try them and you’ll notice a big difference!

Here are a few more interesting tidbits about these great local eggs:

• No cracks in the armor! After going through a machine-wash and sorting process, all Shaka Moa eggs are carefully inspected by one of the company’s nine employees. The team’s goal is to ensure that customers never have to swap cracked eggs out of their cartons.

• Happy chickens, tasty eggs! Shaka Moa eggs come from cage-free chickens. They have their own roosting boxes, a large communal outdoor area and natural light —  even when they are indoors. Having the freedom to roam around enables the chickens to build stronger muscles which results in better eggs.

• Brown or White? Brown eggs come from brown chickens, and white eggs come from white chickens. Nutritionally, there’s no difference, but brown eggs are often a little bigger, have a richer taste and darker colored yolk. That may be because brown chickens are larger than white ones and eat more food. If it seems like brown eggshells are harder to crack, it’s probably because they come from younger chickens.

• Give ‘em a Break:  Shaka Moa’s brown hens are retired after about two years of egg-laying. As they get older, they lay less frequently and their eggs are more fragile.

• Golden Egg:  While there are many ways to crack – and eat – a Shaka Moa egg, Minda says her favorite is “fried, a little runny, in a SPAM® and egg sandwich, with ketchup and Tabasco!