LIHU‘E — Will Lydgate of Lydgate Farms was very proud of his gold award from The Cacao of Excellence 2023 that he showed off on Saturday during the National Agriculture Week celebration at Kukui Grove Center.
His pride was further reinforced as the farm’s general manager Ryan Gallagher was generous in distributing samples of the processed cacao at the event that was a collaborative effort between Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau, its community partners and Kukui Grove Center.
“This gold award was for my team,” Will said. “I wanted them to know what a good job they are doing and that they are producing the best cacao in the world. Lydgate Farms has become something bigger than myself. We are making something special for Kaua‘i, this place we all love so much.”
During the latter part of 2023, Lydgate Farms was invited to attend the awards ceremony at the Chocoa Festival in Amsterdam where gold, silver and bronze recipients were announced. Representing Asia and the Pacific regions, Will and Lydgate Farms earned gold on Will’s third trip to Amsterdam. His previous two trips gave him the “Top 50 Best in the World” designations.
The international competition, The Cacao of Excellence 2023 edition, held every two years, featured 222 cacao samples from 55 cacao-producing countries, Will said.
The standardized chocolate samples are made from the cacao beans following a uniform chocolate-making process and recipe. An independent panel performs blind judging on each chocolate based on its quality and flavor.
“I think we can make Hawai‘i a place people come for good chocolate,” Will said. “We may never be able to compete on volume, but we can make the top quality in the world, and we get a lot of support from our local residents and visitors who come and buy the products. We have shown that farm tours are going to be a big part of regenerative agriculture and tourism in the future.”
In addition to growing award-winning cacao, Lydgate Farms is a pioneer of farm tours on Kaua‘i, receiving rankings of “No. 1 Tour on Kaua‘i” from TripAdvisor and the “No. 1 Farm in Hawai‘i” award. The tour offers visitors a unique opportunity to see a working cacao farm, as well as taste top-quality Hawaiian chocolate.
“Farming has so many challenges, and this award makes it all worthwhile,” Will said. “We are so stoked to share this with the community.”
Owned and operated by a fifth generation Kaua‘i family, Lydgate Farms employs a staff of 26 that stewards more than 3,000 cacao trees across 46 acres shared with vanilla and other tropical plants.
The farm offers weekday farm tours and chocolate tastings from their upcountry estate located on the eastside of Kaua‘i.
For more information, visit the farm’s website at www.lydgatefarms.com.
