About Us
We believe the best way to support Hawaiʻi is to eat locally, so we've made it our mission to make local meat more accessible to residents all across the state.
Kaunamano Farm raises world-renowned Royal Berkshire hogs on the Big Island of Hawai`i using sustainable practices. In addition to our own farm, we partner with other farms all over Hawaiʻi to bring HI-quality, local meat directly to your door through our statewide, farm-to-table delivery service (this website).
The Farm's Beginnings
Kaunamano Farm (the farm, not the online marketplace) was started in 2014 by Brandon Lee and Keoni Regidor, owners of Napua at the Mauna Lani Beach Club. Lee had applied to the Kamehameha Schools’ Mahia‘ai Matchup Program, an agricultural startup competition that was awarding not only acreage but also seed money to farmers with the most innovative ideas.
“The competition started with 127 applicants that were narrowed down to 10 and then three,” says Lee. “We were awarded second place, and that gave us $15,000 and 20 acres. With that money, I bought a fence and six female Berkshire pigs (gilts) from Santa Rosa, California.”
"Kaunamano Farm's approach to Berkshire hog-raising is predicated on intensive pasture management and rotational open-air grazing,” Lee explains. “The rotation allows for both livestock production as well as soil capable of producing quality vegetables.”
The herd is fed a steady diet of tropical fruits, including guavas and star fruit, Okinawan sweet potatoes, macadamia nuts, and bananas from Lee’s own orchard.
(Lee and his Berkshire pigs)
“There’s something powerful about raising your own animals and going through the process and creating something like a hot dog or a product that you’re feeding yourself and your family. There’s something powerful about being self-sustaining."
“In the 1970s, Hawai‘i was harvesting more than 60,000 pigs a year. Last year, Hawai‘i harvested only 1,800. We should all be eating local products because it’s good for Hawai‘i, it’s good for our community, it’s good for a better, more sustainable future for our state.”
Lee says he hopes to increase the value of Hawai‘i’s homestead agriculture.
“I want to create a place-based system that will allow someone to use their family’s land — whether it be 5, 10, 20 or 100 acres — and to be able to make a living they can be proud of.”
"I was just going to farm a few pigs for the restaurant,” he says. “Now we are trying to have a conscious positive impact on Hawai‘i.”
Launch of the Kaunamano Farm Online Marketplace
In 2020, Kaunamano Farm became more than just a farm in Honoka`a, HI. We launched this website and took advantage of our connections with local food producers to make local, HI-quality meat available to more people, therefore sending more money to our farmers and helping rebuild our crucial agricultural systems.
Kaunamano Farm and its Berkshire hogs provide the Bruce Bello Bacon, House-Made Spam, Hamakua Polish Dogs, Berkshire Pork, and 'Nduja Spread available for sale on the online marketplace. All other products are sourced from various farms all across the islands, spreading the impact state-wide!
With your help, we can make massive contributions to Hawai`i in all the right ways, and build a future that we're proud of.
Eat With Impact now!