Kohala and Waimea Farmers Markets
From Hawi and Waimea to the Waikoloa Beach Resort area, the Kohala region is teeming with Farmers Markets offering the freshest produce and handcrafted local goods.
The Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company offers 100% Big Island grown macadamia nuts.
Macadamia nut trees were first introduced to Hawaii in 1881 and used primarily as an ornamental tree. It wasn’t until 40 years later, in 1921 that the first commercial Macadamia nut orchard was started on the Big Island, specifically to harvest macadamia nuts for commercial sell. The three primary regions of the world for growing macadamia nuts today are South Africa, Australia and Hawaii.
With a huge percentage of the macadamia nuts in the world grown on the Big Island, a visit to the “Nut House” at Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company should be on your vacation to-do list. Located on the Northern Kohala Coast, North of Kawaihae Harbor, you can take a factory tour and browse their gift shop. Just don’t try and break a macadamia nut with your teeth as they are a tough nut to crack, it takes 300 pounds per square inch of pressure to crack a macadamia nut.
In the gift shop, you will be greeted by a variety of locally grown and made items such as harvested Kona and Hilo coffee, macadamia nut food items such as; truffles, pancake mix, ice cream, cooking oils, novelty gift items and gift baskets. Most importantly, a swag of macadamia nuts for every taste: plain, glazed, lightly salted, soy sauce, wasabi, chocolate covered and even SPAM flavored. Try their free samples and then pick up some of your favorite flavors.
Open daily from 9:00 am-5:30 pm take a self-guided tour and see the workers go nuts: processing, sorting and bagging these crunchy, versatile, fiber-rich and healthy little morsels.
Location
61-3251 Maluokalani St
Waimea, HI 96743
Contact
(808) 882-1690
Website
