About Us

Our Company

Hukilau Foods is locally owned and operated by Kauai-based Grove Farm and Hukilau Foods' founder Randy Cates. 

Located two miles off of the Leeward Coast of Oahu, Cates founded Cates International Inc. in 2000, becoming the first open ocean farm in the U.S.

The business was established right after the success of the University of Hawaii’s and Oceanic Institute’s Hawaii Open-Ocean Aquaculture Demonstration Program (HOARP), which was formed to test the feasibility of offshore cage fish farming using Hawaiian Moi. In 1999, Cates took over the operations, converting the HOARP research project into a commercial venture.

In 2007, Grove Farm acquired the controlling interest in the company, renaming it Hukilau Foods.

 

Our Mission

Our focus at Hukilau Foods is on Hawaii’s local market.

Our goal is to create enough of a supply to meet the growing demand locally and to make moi more affordable and available so that it becomes a healthy primary dish in everyone’s diet.

Our Open Ocean Cages and Supply

Like today, Hawaiian moi was treasured in ancient Hawaii where fishponds were specially built along the coastline of the Hawaiian Islands to cultivate it.

As the Hawaiians used fishponds, we cultivate our moi through modern aquaculture in open ocean cages. We use remote automated feeding and have underwater camera systems to provide constant observation.

Our moi is raised in its natural habitat, utilizing the ocean’s resources to provide a constant supply of fish for Hawaii’s people. According to a 2004 international report on open ocean aquaculture, the global demand for seafood is outpacing supply, and like the rest of the nation, Hawaii’s fisheries cannot meet the increasing demand.

To meet this demand, we have four cages that can hold about 1 million pounds of fish. Today, our cages produce about 900,000 pounds of fish per year, with plans to increase production in 2008 to about 1.5 million pounds per year. Our goal is to continually increase the supply of Moi to the local market to meet the growing demand. Given the growth cycle for moi, our cages have the ability to produce 1.7 million pounds in a year.

Our open ocean cages are located two miles offshore immersed in 150 feet of water and lie about 40 feet under the surface. The submerged cages avoid navigational conflicts and preserve the aesthetic aspects of the area.

The water depth and the steady, stronger currents found offshore at our site results in little organic build-up beneath the cages and maintains a high water quality. The University of Hawaii has conducted a seven-year study that shows no significant impact. In addition, the stronger currents offshore keep the fish in physical conditions similar to wild stocks.

Hukilau Foods is currently in the process of developing a fingerling hatchery in the Campbell Industrial Park.  Upon the completion of the facility in 2009, annual production capacity is expected to be about 10 million fingerlings.