PHOTO: Greg Colden, co-owner of Kokoleka Farms, holding a cacao pod. (PRNewsFoto/Kona Natural Soap Company)
Authenticity and sustainability are valued more than ever by travelers today.
But one tour operator on Hawaii Island is going a step farther, combining the two travel trends with something just about everybody loves: chocolate.
As Hawaii's reputation as a premier producer of cacao continues to grow, Home Tours Hawaii, the Big Island's only culinary home tour company, is partnering with local farm owners to showcase the chocolate-making process.
As part of the tour, travelers set off to well known Kona cacao farm, Kokoleka Lani Farms, which produces Hawaii's popular Madre Chocolate bars with its cacao. Travelers are given an intimate tour of the estate of local farm owners Greg Colden and Marty Corrigan, where they can sample tropical fruits grown on the farm, locally sourced and handmade cuisine, and-of course-the famous Madre Chocolate bars.
Guests will also learn about the history of cacao, how it's harvested, how it's created into chocolate and the types of cacao hybrids that grow in Hawaii. Travelers can even taste the raw cacao directly from the pods of the farm's trees (if that's not authentic, I don't know what is).
For an added dose of authenticity and sustainability, the tour finishes at the Kona Natural Soap Company, a soap factory located on the farm that includes the winnowings of the roasted cacao and the seeds of the farm's tropical fruits as ingredients in its soap.
"We are excited to be partnering with Home Tours Hawaii to offer this innovative cacao tour to showcase a unique commodity of Hawaii and allow guests to see a sustainable working farm where it is grown, cultivated and incorporated into both chocolate and soap," said Colden, co-owner of Kokoleka Farms and the tour guide for both the farm and the factory tour.
"With the growing trend towards enjoying food from where it is grown, we encourage guests to taste the cacao from the trees, experience a 'bean to bar' chocolate and taste locally sourced cuisine," added Home Tours Hawaii owner Lisa Christian, via a press release. "Visitors will immerse all their senses in the taste, smells and sights of a tropical fruit farm."
Home Tours Hawaii is offering weekly tours now for $75 per person. Tours leave downtown Kailua Kona at 8:30 a.m. and return by 11:30 a.m.
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