LYDGATE FARMS … Kauai’s Botanical Gardens and Chocolate Farm

This was the first of our family outings on Kauai … It was set up by my daughter after a friend highly recommended it. Personally, I initially thought this was a bit of a reach, but everyone agreed that it was a wonderful tour. The farm had a little of everything, and all you would ever want to know about chocolate. As chocolate plantations go, this one is a drop in the bucket … 46 acres would be a flea on the Hershey cocoa dog farms in Central America or Africa. But Lydgate does it all, from growing, to production, to making the products, to marketing. And the tour takes through the entire process.

Lydgate is also a great example of what it takes to be a successful Kauai business. To be viable, they have to offer the tours, sell their wares at their Farm Gift Shop, and sell their chocolate in markets and stores. And the farm also grow other products, such as vanilla and honey … Visitors also get to sample these offerings.

The first hour is a general overview and a walk through an area of native Kauai trees and flowers. We were also given samples of their honey, produced at the farm.

Then the focus changed to a description of growing and harvesting of the cocoa. We were led through the entire process of picking the pods, harvesting the essential parts, and the process of turning it into a consumable product.

Then we sat down and were treated to eight different chocolates from around the world. These included their own product as well as samples from Europe and Hershey. They included and explained tastes of dark and milk chocolate. And I was impressed that there was no effort to claim that theirs was the best … rather the emphasis was on the differences.

A couple other areas that the tour addressed included the island’s transition from the sugar cane and pineapple crops to current crops, and the impact on the soil. Also, we learned that most macadamia nuts, marketed as being grown locally, actually come from Australia !! The language on the packaging was reviewed so we could tell the country of origin.

The tour ended with a trip to the gift shop … which offered a variety of different milk and darker chocolates, honey, and souvenirs. Overall a very informative and fun three hours.