Some also see it as an agricultural product that can enhance Hawai'i's economy like no other before it.

As the only state in the country with a climate warm enough to support the cacao trees that provide the treat's key ingredient, entrepreneurs, farmers and even state lawmakers agree: Hawai'i is perfectly positioned to become a player in the global chocolate market.

"These are two words that the world knows: Hawai'i and chocolate. You don't have to construct the definition anywhere," said Richard Oszustowicz, founder of Hawaii Gold Cacao Tree Inc., a company on the Big Island with big plans for the industry.

The state Legislature has recognized the potential of Hawaii Gold Cacao's plan by approving $10 million in special-purpose revenue bonds for the company.

Lawmakers also adopted a resolution supporting the economic benefits of Hawai'i chocolate, noting that the cultivation, processing and production of cacao and chocolate is a global business that generates $45 billion worldwide and $15 billion in the United States.

"Hawai'i-grown chocolate can become a unique connoisseur delicacy that can provide agricultural diversity in the state," the resolution states.

"We've done well with coffee, Tahiti has done well with vanilla and we have the background of sugar in our history that I think chocolate is poised to be the next big crop," said state Rep. Corrine Ching, the resolution's author.

Oszustowicz looks at Hawai'i's proximity to Asia to see the potential. He notes that Chinese consume an average of 8 ounces of chocolate per person per year, compared with 20 pounds in the United States and 30 pounds in Europe.

"Hawai'i is so beautifully situated between the Mainland and Asia," he said. "You couldn't want to be situated any better to be able to go in either direction."

Key to any such operation in Hawai'i is the cacao tree and its pods, which produce the cacao bean used in the chocolate making process.

In five years, Oszustowicz forecasts that Hawaii Gold Cacao could have as many as 10,000 acres of cacao trees (with about 1,000 trees per acre) growing in Hawai'i, and up to 28,000 acres by 2014.

The trees last up to 40 years and often are ready for first harvest within 30 months of planting. They reach full maturity between six and 10 years, which is twice as fast as macadamia nut trees, according to Hawaii Gold Cacao.

"I think we're going to surpass sugar in its heyday," he said. "We're very, very lucky because the environment here is so superb. The volcanic soil causes a high quality bean."

Hawaii Gold Cacao also has plans for a 70,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art factory in North Kohala that would employ about 200 people.

That's considerably larger than Bob Cooper's 1,150-square-foot home in Keauhou on the Kona Coast, where he and his wife, Pamela, turned out their first 500-pound batch of Hawai'i-grown and processed chocolate in September 2000.

Today, the Coopers and their Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory still operate from home and turn out about 2,000 pounds of chocolate every month, preferring to stay small and cater to a "niche, signature market."

"It's small but good things come out of small packages," Cooper said. "We could actually produce 5,000 pounds a month if we were to diversify."

But Cooper refuses to import cacao beans from other countries and produce a mixed blend of chocolate. While importing beans would allow him to produce more chocolate and lower costs — limited resources force him to sell 4 ounce bars at $8 to $12 each — it also would take away from what he feels makes the chocolate unique.

By not importing beans, Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory's operation is "keeping it very special and keeping it Hawaiian," Cooper said.

Consumers recognize the difference.

Even at $9 a bar, the chocolate flies off the shelves at Cook's Discoveries store in Waimea on the Big Island.

"I'm surprised at how rapidly it sells, given the price on it," said owner Patti Cook. "This chocolate is excellent."

And while their ideas on the scale of the state's chocolate industry are vastly different, both Oszustowicz and Cooper recognize the potential of their unique product.