Editorial
Sugar can survive in a gourmet niche
For anyone who cherishes Hawai'i's green landscape or its agricultural heritage, a story this week by Kaua'i Bureau Chief Jan TenBruggencate came across as good news.
While the sugar industry in general is in steep decline in Hawai'i, it turns out there are bright spots.
When once there were numerous plantations on all islands, there are now but two: A&B's Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. on Maui and Gay & Robinson on Kaua'i. But these two are not simple stragglers soon to go the way of the others.
In fact, managers of the two plantations say there is a relatively positive future for their operations over the next decade and beyond. They point to two factors: the likely passage of a new federal farm program that would bring stability to the industry and new marketing approaches that may create fresh niches for Hawaiian sugar.
Our thought is that the long-term viability of Hawaiian sugar — or any Island agricultural product, for that matter — depends ultimately on the quality of the product and the manner in which it is marketed.
That is, federal support can be important in the short run and can keep the industry stable, but ultimately we cannot depend on largess from Uncle Sam.
Washington's agricultural supports come in two basic forms: domestic market allotments or subsidies and import quotas. In the past, most farm bills included a combination of both for sugar. But the 1995 farm bill eliminated domestic market controls and set up a relatively weak and limited structure of import quotas.
That picture is unlikely to change. In fact, with the growth of the World Trade Organization and the inevitable expansion of the global economic order, opportunities for protection of domestic markets such as sugar will become less and less likely.
While Hawai'i sugar plantations are among the world's most efficient, they cannot compete against foreign sugar producers who receive substantial price supports from their governments.
They can compete, however, in quality and market appeal. And that is where the future of Hawai'i sugar must rest. This process has already begun: HC&S already keeps up to 10,000 tons a year of its production for value-added "gourmet" sugar products.
Hawai'i is naturally marketable. Our climate, environment and romantic association with sugar should be promoted to make our Island sugar an up-scale, gourmet product for which premium prices make sense. While the primary responsibility for this marketing rests with the producers, the state should take up some of this responsibility.
After all, we all benefit when sugar continues to grace our Island landscape.
