Honokaʻa Chocolate Co. Cacao Farm Tour: Orchard Walk, Nine-Chocolate Tasting, and Production Facility

Mike Pollard spent his career as an aerospace engineer before buying farmland on the Hamakua Coast. He leads every tour personally, which explains why the science portion covers soil composition, pollinator behavior, and cacao variety differences before it ever gets to flavor notes.

The orchard sits on the farm property where tours begin, about five minutes from the retail store in Honokaʻa town.

The tour meets at the farm on Old Mamalahoa Highway, not at the retail shop in Honokaa town. Directions are sent after booking. The orchard sits at elevation on the Hamakua Coast, which means it can be overcast by mid-afternoon even when Honokaa town is clear; bring a light layer. The terrain is uneven and can be muddy in wet weather, so closed-toe shoes are the better call. From the orchard, Mike walks the group through cultivation, harvesting, fermentation, and drying in sequence. If pods are mature, you taste fresh cacao fruit pulled from the tree. Availability is seasonal and never guaranteed.

From Orchard to Tasting Room

The second half is a structured tasting of nine current award-winning single-origin chocolates, led wine-style: aroma first, then texture, then finish. The format is closer to a flavor education seminar than a sample tray. Mike covers the chemistry behind fermentation, flavonoid development, and theobromine, and connects what you’re tasting back to specific conditions on the farm. The tasting table is set up with water and palate-cleansing crackers between flights, which matters more by the sixth or seventh chocolate than you’d expect. Some guests also encounter a kakao brew or cacao tea alongside the chocolate flight. These aren’t guaranteed, but they appear often enough to be worth knowing about. The structured format gives you a framework for evaluating any chocolate afterward, not just the bars in the retail shop.

The tasting covers nine bars in sequence, with instruction on evaluating aroma, texture, and finish.

The tour finishes with a short caravan along Old Mamalahoa Highway to the production facility and retail shop in Honokaa town. The drive takes under five minutes. At the facility, Mike walks the group through the processing equipment, from roasting to tempering. One practical note: the machines may not be running during your visit. The walkthrough still covers the full process, and the retail shop carries the current bar lineup for tasting and purchase.

What You’re Actually Paying For

At $95 per person for 2 hours, this tour costs more than most tasting experiences on the island. What makes it worth the price is the founder-led format, the small group cap of 12, and the fact that the chocolate being discussed was grown on the same property where you’re standing. Groups larger than 12, or private tours, can be arranged directly with the operator.

What keeps surfacing in guest descriptions is a specific shift: not enthusiasm for chocolate generally, but a new awareness of how far commercial chocolate is from the source. That kind of response is harder to manufacture than a 4.8-star average, and it reflects Mike’s depth as an educator.

Honokaʻa Chocolate Co. is one of a small number of true bean-to-bar producers in Hawaii, and Mike Pollard leads the tours himself. At $95, the 2 hours experience goes well beyond a typical tasting: you leave with real knowledge of how flavor develops from tree to bar. Best suited for food-curious travelers who want context with their chocolate, not just samples. The small group cap of 12 keeps it from feeling like a mass tourist activity.

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