HI HR23

Requests the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to study Hawaii's food manufacturing strengths, competitive advantages, and strategic export markets for high-value, premium Hawaii-made products.

Requires the study to establish economic metrics defining high-value products and conduct a cost-of-production analysis factoring in Hawaii's high energy, labor, and imported ingredient costs to determine minimum profit margins for economic viability.

Directs assessment of logistical and transportation barriers preventing market entry and requests state-level solutions be proposed.

Requests the University of Hawaii update curriculum at the Maui Food Innovation Center and Wahiawa Value-Added Product Development Center to teach entrepreneurs to engineer products for export-oriented markets from the start.

Calls for collaboration between DBEDT, Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity, Agribusiness Development Corporation, and University of Hawaii to integrate study findings into workforce development, business incubation programs, and scaling facility development.