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Sunday, November 11, 2001


art
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Nalo Farms owner Dean Okimoto is worried that
a hotel cooperative buying program set up by
Marriott International will increase costs for
local farmers and restrict their access to
numerous distributors.



Down times on the farm

A hotel chain's drive
to cooperative buying
worries local growers



By Lyn Danninger
ldanninger@starbulletin.com

Like many Hawaii residents, local farmers have been feeling the heat since Sept. 11. With the economy in turmoil, once-relied upon orders from restaurants and hotels are now erratic.

Prior to Sept. 11, farmers had been enjoying a renaissance of sorts thanks in part to growing interest in Pacific Rim cuisine and the work done by local chefs to promote it.

But a new hotel buying cooperative created on the mainland by Marriott International could make it more difficult for Hawaii farmers to sell their produce. A number of other hotel chains that operate in Hawaii, including Hyatt Hotels Corp., have joined the cooperative, called Avendra.

Avendra boasts it is now the largest procurement operation serving the hospitality industry in North America and the Caribbean.

"Working with manufacturers and distributors, Avendra offers exceptional prices on goods and services at a variety of quality and price points, all from suppliers who have undergone a thorough review and inspection," the company says on its Web site.

The cooperative has local farmers worried. Right now, many farmers enjoy direct relationships with a variety of hotel chefs and can deal with a number of produce wholesalers and distributors.

If the Avendra system were to become established in Hawaii, participating hotels would buy produce through designated wholesalers. They could also only deal with farms that have been certified by the cooperative as meeting certain food safety standards following harvest, such as washing methods, produce packaging and transportation.

Currently, standards for agricultural products nationwide are voluntary.

But a growing number of companies nationwide, not just those associated with Avendra, are looking at buying only from suppliers that are certified. Some supermarkets on the mainland, including the Safeway chain, have adopted guidelines requiring farm suppliers to certify that the agricultural products they sell have been processed according to safety guidelines.

Produce suppliers would need to be audited by an independent firm to certify their fruits and vegetables are in compliance with the guidelines. Should such a system become widespread, it could be difficult for the majority of Hawaii's small farmers to conduct business in the same way as they do now.

Buying only from certified farms is one part of the Avendra formula. Farmers' other worry is the system set up to purchase produce.

"One of our main concerns is that it creates a monopoly situation where a sole source distributor can start to dictate prices to the farmer," said Dean Okimoto, owner of Nalo Farms in Waimanalo.

Moreover, becoming an approved vendor could be too costly a process for the average small farmer, Okimoto said.

In Hawaii, the effort to have farms certified has had mixed success because of the large number of small farmers and the expense involved, Okimoto said.

But if hotels participating with Avendra are eventually forced to use only nationally approved vendors, many farmers in Hawaii would be cut out of the loop.

At the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Spa on Kauai, General Manager Jerry Gibson is hopeful that he will continue to be able to buy a good percentage of produce locally even with the Avendra system in place.

"We will continue to buy as much from local farmers as we can," he said. "We have relationships with them."

He notes not everything can be obtained from the mainland.

"I don't see us ever purchasing 100 percent of everything from the mainland. I think there will be a certain flexibility in the system," he said.

But he acknowledges that it may not be possible to buy as much local produce from farmers as he would have before Avendra. However, uniquely Hawaiian produce must still be purchased from local vendors.

The problem has already come to the attention of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

"It's a mainland issue that has migrated to Hawaii," said Gary Baldwin, an authority board member. "I know the local hoteliers and chefs absolutely want to continue to work with local farmers."

Buying local products is now an even more urgent issue given current economic conditions, Baldwin said, and he is anxious to work out a solution that will work for everyone.

He wants to set up an HTA investigative committee to work on agriculture issues and formulate some solutions.

But regardless of Avendra and the move towards streamlined purchasing, produce certification and the more rigorous system of farm safety standards are not going to go away, he said.

Hawaii farmers need to begin working toward getting certified, Baldwin said.

"At some point we had best figure out how to solve the problem so we might as well work on it and figure out how we can help to get farmers certified," he said.

Okimoto agrees, but he's worried about the cost to farmers.

Right now the state Department of Agriculture has two employees qualified to conduct certification audits of farms according to national standards. In addition, there are several more employees being trained. Working through the Department of Agriculture would likely provide a less costly alternative for farmers.



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