The Synergistic Hawaii Agriculture Council is a statewide coalitionthat supports Hawaiʻi agriculture through research, funding, and global market development. SHAC is a 501(c)(6) trade association founded in 2011. We unite our members’ resources to support the growth of Hawaiʻi agriculture in the face of shared challenges such as geographic isolation, high costs, pest & disease, and limited marketing costs.

SHAC is powered by our commodity association members:

Hawaii Chocolate & Cacao Association (HCCA)
Hawaii Coffee Association (HCA)*
Hawaii Floriculture & Nursery Association (HFNA)*
Hawaii Macadamia Nut Association (HMNA)
Hawaii Papaya Industry Association (HPIA)*

*Founding member

Our board of directors has two representatives from each active member association, with eight current directors. Our board leads decision-making and programs for their commodity groups and collaborates with each other to accomplish common goals.

SHAC has a team of staff who lead overall strategy, program management, finances, communication, and internal research. We also employ two postdoctoral fellows who work at USDA ARS Pacific Basing Agricultural Research Center (PBARC) in Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island.

SHAC unites our member associations under one umbrella to pursue Federal and State funding, support research on crop innovation initiatives, and help Hawaii-grown products compete in global markets. Our programs currently support cacao, coffee, floriculture, macadamia nut, and papaya.

Export Marketing: SHAC received our first USDA-FAS Market Access Program (MAP) grant in 2012, targeting Japan and Canada. Since then, we have expanded our members’ marketing activities into Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China.

Pest and disease research: In 2021, USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded SHAC $6.1 million in coffee leaf rust (CLR) research funding for Hawaiʻi and Puerto Rico.

Industry development: In 2025, SHAC received $640 thousand from the Hawaiʻi State Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (HDAB) to develop plans for a macadamia nut processing cooperative.

We are continuously working on new programs that expand on and compliment those shared here for each of our member associations. Head to our About Us page for more information and our News page for ongoing updates.

As an organization comprised of association members, the best way to get involved with SHAC’s work is through your commodity’s association:

Hawaii Chocolate & Cacao Association (HCCA)
Hawaii Coffee Association (HCA)
Hawaii Floriculture & Nursery Association (HFNA)
Hawaii Macadamia Nut Association (HMNA)
Hawaii Papaya Industry Association (HPIA)

If you do not belong to one of these commodity groups, but grow these crops, contact us so you can be included on our mailing and outreach list and learn more about getting involved.
If you do not grow one of these crops, we are not currently supporting activities for your specific crop. Feel free to contact us to discuss future membership for your commodity group. Organizations can apply for SHAC membership and shall represent a broad base of growers for your commodity across the Hawaiian Islands.
We do not offer individual farm or business memberships at this time.

Over the last decade, SHAC has secured:

• Over $12M in research funding for crop protection and innovation

• $3.3M in international market expansion funding

• $1.8M in disaster resilience support following the 2018 Kīlauea eruption

• Collaborated with an international consortium of land-grant universities, non-profits, and private companies to receive the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Coffee and Cacao (CCIL)