REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND TOURISM TO CONDUCT A STUDY ON HAWAII'S FOOD MANUFACTURING STRENGTHS AND STRATEGIC MARKETS.

SR48

THE SENATE

S.R. NO.

48

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

Requesting the Department of Business, Economic
Development, and Tourism to conduct a study on Hawaii's food manufacturing
strengths and strategic markets
.

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WHEREAS, Hawaii's
economy relies on small businesses, which account for 99.3 percent of
businesses and 49.3 percent of employees across the State; and

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WHEREAS, a
report on small businesses by the Economic Research Organization at the
University of Hawaii recommended that the State create centralized networking
systems to help small businesses build connections and collaborate on projects;
launch initiatives in partnership with educational institutions for technical
skills, training, leadership development, and employee retention strategies;
and foster small business growth and sustainability by implementing policies
from comparable cities, including business incubators, innovation hubs, and
public-private partnerships; and

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WHEREAS, Act
237, Session Laws of Hawaii 2025, established the food and product innovation
network, a statewide network of open-access food and value-added product
development facilities to enable businesses to scale up new products, by
supporting research and development, manufacturing, and commercialization; and

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WHEREAS, the
food and product innovation network is modeled on New Zealand's public-private
innovation network, which includes food innovation hubs that are strategically
located and coordinated nationally to deliver complementary services across the
nation; and

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WHEREAS,
similar to Hawaii, Singapore faces severe geographic and agricultural land
constraints and has strategically shifted its food innovation focus toward
developing high-value, technology-driven food products and premium exports,
recognizing that traditional volume-based agriculture is not economically
viable in a resource-scarce environment; and

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WHEREAS, shared-use
scaling facilities, such as Singapore's FoodPlant, provide critical insight
into how the State can utilize small-batch production infrastructure to
mitigate prohibitive initial capital costs, thereby enabling businesses to
systematically engineer products specifically for high-margin, premium consumer
markets; and

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WHEREAS, Hawaii's
ability to compete in global markets depends on its capacity to use similar coordinated
and strategic planning to refine processes, scale production, and manufacture
high-value, export-ready ingredients and goods; and

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WHEREAS, the
State's food and product innovation network uniquely integrates entrepreneurial
education, workforce development, agricultural production, and value-added
innovation into one coordinated system; and

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WHEREAS, the successful
implementation and growth of the food and product innovation network requires
further examination of Hawaii's food manufacturing strengths and the
identification of strategic markets for local high-value, premium products;
now, therefore,

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BE IT
RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii,
Regular Session of 2026, that the Department of Business, Economic Development,
and Tourism is requested to conduct a study on Hawaii's food manufacturing
strengths and strategic markets, including an assessment of the competitive
advantages of Hawaii-made products and the specific high-value, premium
products that the State should focus on manufacturing for export; and

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BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that, as part of the study, the Department is requested to establish
clear economic metrics defining what qualifies as a high-value product and to
identify specific markets matching those metrics with specific product
categories that possess the highest probability of export success; and

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BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Department is requested to include in the study a
comprehensive cost-of-production analysis, factoring in Hawaii's high
operational costs, including energy, labor, and imported ingredients, to
mathematically determine the minimum profit margins required to make local food
manufacturing economically viable; and

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BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Department is requested to assess any logistical or
transportation barriers that currently prevent entry into identified strategic
markets and to propose state-level solutions; and

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BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii is requested to use the findings of the
study to update the curriculum at the Maui Food Innovation Center and Wahiawa Value-Added
Product Development Center to ensure that local entrepreneurs are taught to
engineer products specifically for high-value, export-oriented markets from the
very beginning; and

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BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is
requested to collaborate with the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity,
Agribusiness Development Corporation and its innovation centers, and the
University of Hawaii to ensure that the results of the study are integrated
into existing workforce development and business incubation programs; and

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BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Agribusiness Development Corporation is requested to utilize
the findings of the study to guide the development and operation of its
next-phase scaling facilities, ensuring that businesses developed through
University of Hawaii programs are supported with the necessary infrastructure
to manufacture high-value products and achieve sustainable economic growth; and

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BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that, based on the study's findings, the Agribusiness Development
Corporation and University of Hawaii are requested to collaborate to instill market
discipline early in the food and product innovation network process, teaching
entrepreneurs which products are high-value and viable for export; and

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BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is
requested to propose policy recommendations on how the State can realign and
prioritize existing economic development resources, grants, and funding
mechanisms to specifically support businesses that manufacture the identified
high-value, premium products; and

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BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Director of
Agriculture and Biosecurity; President of the University of Hawaii; Chairperson
of the Board of Directors of the Agribusiness Development Corporation;
Executive Director of the Agribusiness Development Corporation; Director of the
Maui Food Innovation Center; and Director of the Wahiawa Value-Added Product
Development Center.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:
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DBEDT;
DAB; UH; ADC; Study; Hawaii Food Manufacturing Strengths and Strategic Markets;
Hawaii Food and Product Innovation Network; Local Goods; Hawaii-Grown; Locally
Produced; Logistics; Supply Chain; Feedback Loop; Entrepreneurs; Small Business