HAWAII ULU PRODUCERS COOPERATIVE — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase I: 8.12

Description

his project will result in the development of a thriving commercial breadfruit ('ulu) industry inHawai'i that will serve as an example to emergent agricultural industries focused on highlyseasonal crops. We address key industry gaps by leveraging the pioneering work of small businessapplicant Hawai'i 'Ulu Producers Cooperative (HUPC) the State of Hawai'i's foremost breadfruitfarmer organization. HUPC will research and develop a feasible plan to scale an efficient verticallyintegrated breadfruit industry value chain from pilot to commercial which has not yet beenachieved globally.Breadfruit is a prolific nutritious staple that has potential to mitigate global hunger but remainsunderutilized. Recent research has pointed to breadfruit's resilience to climate change andnutritional benefits as a low-glycemic high protein starch with significant economic potential inthe natural foods market. However the breadfruit industry remains undeveloped because ofchallenges related to the fruit's shelf life seasonality and a lack of adequate manufacturingtechnologies for commercial processing.This project will provide foundational research and development to determine the feasibility ofscaling to commercial-level breadfruit production and processing of at least 1 million pounds peryear of fruit aggregated from small diversified farms. Objectives include identification of new andinnovative utilization of existing technologies for commercial production and manufacturing withconsideration of GMP and FSMA regulations; development of technologies to accommodatediversified co-crops to support year-round operations and market supply; and creation of novelbranding strategies and a replicable framework for increasing and expediting small-farm returns.