State officials today plan to launch a new "Made in Hawai'i" program aimed at distinguishing high-quality, Hawai'i-grown and processed agricultural products from the rest of the field.

The new green and gold-colored "Hawaii Seal of Quality" label will serve as both a certificate of origin and quality for products coming from the Islands. Use of the new logo will cost growers and manufacturers a half cent per impression, which will go to cover advertising to raise awareness about the new "Made in Hawai'i" label. So far 12 companies have signed up to license the label including Greenpoint Nurseries, Manoa Honey Co., and Ali'i Kula Lavender.

Gov. Linda Lingle, Board of Agriculture Chairwoman Sandra Kunimoto, and agriculture industry representatives are scheduled to unveil the new seal at an event today at Washington Place.

The plan is to use the seal on high-end and gourmet foods targeted at Hawai'i residents, tourists and the military. Eventually, the program is designed to replace the state's "Made in Hawai'i" label, state agriculture officials have said.

The program was expected to launch at least a year earlier, but ran into snags in determining the amount of local ingredients required to use the seal.

A seal-of-quality program for fresh and processed foods could have significant implications for Hawai'i's agriculture industry by creating an incentive for food processors to use local ingredients in goods such as candies, juices, cookies, jams and pastries. That could help farmers of local produce such as macadamia nuts and guava compete with low-priced imports, as well as promote new products such as cacao, used to make chocolate.

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.