Big Island Chocolate Festival spotlights local cacao growers, student chefs

A free cacao farmers market and a college student dessert competition are pushing this year’s Big Island Chocolate Festival beyond a gala weekend and into a showcase for Hawaiʻi Island’s cacao economy. The 13th annual event, themed Chocolate in Paradise, runs April 23-25 at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa in Waikoloa Village and is being presented as a three-day experience for farmers, chefs and attendees.

The festival’s biggest addition is the new cacao farmers market, which is designed to give local growers and chocolate makers a direct sales and marketing platform. That farm-to-table, maker-to-market approach matters on the Kona Coast, where cacao has become part of the island’s broader agricultural identity and a draw for culinary tourism. The festival is also keeping its free student chocolate competition, giving future chefs a public stage to show plated dessert skills before professional judges.

Kona Cacao Association president Farsheed Bonakdar has framed the student competition and the culinary demonstrations around it as a win for young people and for Hawaiʻi’s food-service industry, which leans heavily on tourism and higher-end dining. The association says its mission is to promote the cacao industry on Hawaiʻi Island through the festival as an educational and outreach event, and it says it has been doing that since 2011.

The weekend begins Thursday, April 23, with a plantation tour at Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory in Keauhou-Kona. The festival FAQ lists tickets at $30 for one person or $50 for two. On Friday, the action moves to Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa for the farmers market, student competition and seminars on cacao farming and processing. Saturday closes with tasting demonstrations and the signature gala, where savory and sweet chocolate dishes, a colossal chocolate fountain, beverages, a silent auction, photo booth, edible chocolate portraits, DJ music and dancing are all part of the program.

The festival also has a direct economic ripple effect for local nonprofits and culinary training. Its beneficiary materials say proceeds support local culinary programs and student chefs, while past beneficiaries have included Hawaiʻi Institute of Pacific Agriculture, Kona Dance & Performing Arts, Keahole Center for Sustainability, Kona Pacific Public Charter School and Hawaiʻi Keiki Museum. A sponsor-level package on the festival website says it can fund a full culinary student scholarship, including travel, lodging and mentorship.

Chefs and chocolatiers can enter at no cost, but they must have a temporary food permit from the Hawaiʻi Health Department. The festival says all tickets and packages are sold online, and its mix of farm tours, student training and visitor-facing events turns Hawaiʻi Island chocolate into more than a specialty crop. It becomes a local industry story with tourism dollars, farm exposure and career pathways attached.