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By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Workers pack sprouts at HPC Foods in Kalihi.
The buildings now have tighter safety controls.

New plant reaps
return of isle-
grown sprouts

A large local grower resumes
production at a new facility, saying
sprouts are on the way to stores

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By Pat Gee
Star-Bulletin

BUSINESS is sprouting once again for Taro Brand mung bean sprouts. The sprouts, along with other locally grown sprout products, were to be back on restaurant tables starting today and should be in grocery stores next Tuesday after being absent for almost six weeks.

HPC Foods, producer of Taro Brand and one of the largest sprout growers in the state, shut down its sprout operation to upgrade its Kalihi-Kai facilities, leading to sprout shortages until supplies could be brought in from the mainland.

Retail prices "should remain the same" as before, although wholesalers will have to pay slightly higher prices. The mainland sprouts HPC has been importing have cost the customer much more than HPC's own sprouts, according to Eric Enomoto, treasurer/controller of HPC Foods.

Just built is a brand-new refrigerated Central Distribution Center on a 15,000-square-foot lot at the corner of Libby and Home Rule streets.

Equipment was taken apart, cleaned and refurbished, and staffing was increased by about 15 percent to 20 percent in the past year, Enomoto added.

The renovations included the installation of nonporous wall paneling and putting a sealant on the floors and walls of all buildings to ensure the buildings could be sanitized.

All who enter a room where sprouts are handled have long been required to dip their shoes in a chlorine solution to reduce bacteria and are required to wear a hairnet, Enomoto said.

As a precautionary move in early January, HPC decided to stop distributing sprouts that preliminary tests showed had "higher levels of bacteria that could lead to a potential problem," Enomoto said.

There was never a public safety question because none of the sprouts were released, he added.

A month before the operation was shut down in January, HPC received a "superior" grade from an independent auditor, AIB International, but HPC still "felt we needed to implement additional controls" over safety, Enomoto said.

The renovations have been in the works for a while to enable the company to start growing a new, cancer-fighting "brocco-sprout," Enomoto said.

He said the company is only one of 14 in the nation authorized to grow the product.