Chad Cleveland swore he'd grow anything but macadamia nuts. Then he bought Hawaiʻi’s oldest mac nut factory — and built a business that sustains 75 farmers and the spirit of a community.
There's an irony at the heart of Chad Cleveland's story that he's happy to laugh about. When the California-raised farmer first set his sights on Hawaiʻi Island, he had one firm conviction: he was not going to grow macadamia nuts. Too common. Too obvious. Too done.
Years later, after humbly learning the island's ecosystems, soils, crops, and culture, he acquired a tiny value-added macadamia nut brand, restored Hawaiʻi's oldest macadamia nut factory, and built a thriving business that supports local farmers and honors Hawaiʻi heritage.
"When originally envisioning my dream Hawaiʻi ag business, I wanted to grow anything but macadamia nuts and coffee because those crops were so common," he says. "We all know how that worked out!"
Today, Cleveland is the founder and owner of Ahualoa Family Farms — sourcing 100% locally grown macadamia nuts from more than 75 small farmers across Hawaiʻi Island, processing them in a restored historic factory, and hand-roasting every batch in a certified commercial kitchen. The very crop he once dismissed is now the vehicle through which he's sustaining a farming community and honoring the heritage of the islands.
From Citrus Roots to Island Calling
Cleveland grew up on a citrus ranch in Corona, California. After college, a stint as a farm supervisor at Cal Poly Pomona gave him experience but not satisfaction. So he did what driven people do: he leased land, got a beginning farmer loan, and built his own operation on the side while working a day job. It worked.
But Southern California’s relentless urbanization was already encroaching, and Cleveland was already searching for something more — for a place to raise his family and build something lasting.
“I always had a strong passion for agriculture and business along with a strong work ethic and drive,” he says. “I put everything I had into my own business and ultimately created a successful farming business in Southern California that paved the way for my journey to Hawaiʻi.”
That journey eventually brought him to Ahualoa — a small, lush community tucked into the hills above Honokaʻa on the Hamakua Coast. After years of learning the island’s ecosystems, soils, crops, and culture with self-described humility, he made the move that would define everything.
"After years of exploring, I was blessed to cross paths with a tiny local gourmet macadamia nut brand, and the rest is history," Cleveland says.
A Labor of Love, Forged in Steel and Aloha
“My proudest moment has been purchasing and restoring Hawaiʻi’s oldest mac nut factory,” Cleveland says. “It has truly been a labor of love, and I am so proud and honored to preserve and reinvigorate the local mac nut industry.”
The factory isn’t just a production facility — it’s infrastructure for an entire farming ecosystem. Before Cleveland resurrected it, many of the island’s small mac nut growers had nowhere to sell. The factory changed that, giving farmers of all sizes a place to deliver their harvest while allowing Ahualoa Family Farms to control quality from field to finished product.
The result is a product unlike anything else on the market. Though macadamia nuts are native to Australia, Hawaiʻi was the first to cultivate them commercially — right down the road from Ahualoa, in the late 1800s. Cleveland’s team leans into that deep local history, roasting small batches by hand using locally sourced ingredients and proprietary techniques.
I put everything I had into my own business and ultimately created a successful farming business in Southern California that paved the way for my journey to Hawaiʻi.
The One That Started It All
After everything — the factory, the farmers, the festival, the philosophy — ask Cleveland which product he’d reach for first and he doesn’t hesitate. The Hawaiian Island Honey Macadamia Nut.
“They’re like candy — and growing up eating Honey Nut Cheerios every morning probably has something to do with it,” he says. “For the sweet tooth moments, it’s a toss-up between dark chocolate and milk chocolate covered mac nuts. The mood decides. Either way, the balance of premium chocolate and that buttery whole-nut crunch is something truly special.”
The Real Challenge: Shipping Everything, Twice
Running a food business from one of the most remote island chains on the planet comes with costs that mainland competitors simply don’t face. Cleveland is characteristically direct about it.
“The high cost of shipping is the number one challenge — both bringing in inputs and getting product out to customers,” he says. “Everything is harder in a remote, isolated location: parts, supplies, resources, and services all come with premium price tags and lead times, requiring bulk purchasing and large inventories.”
His countermeasures are structural: vertical integration, local partnerships, and a hard-won COVID-era lesson about not depending too heavily on tourism dollars. Sales diversification, he says, became a critical priority almost overnight.
Community as Core Strategy
If there’s a word that runs through everything Cleveland does, it’s community.
Ahualoa Family Farms is rooted in Honokaʻa — the small town just below the farm — where the company sponsors local educational and recreational initiatives and hosts MacFest, an annual celebration of the mac nut’s history and resurgence on the island. The event opens with a traditional Hawaiian blessing performed by a Kahuna from the region. The company’s tagline — Aloha, ʻĀina, ʻOhana — isn’t marketing language; it’s the operating system.
Its retail shop "The Nuthouse", boasts an ocean view lanai providing a local gathering spot to sip coffee, talk story, and enjoy local mac nuts.
“I am not trying to take over the macadamia nut industry or sell out; I am doing this because my values and what I strive for in my personal and professional life align with the values of Hawaiian culture,” he says. “I am building this business to pass down for generations to come, with great respect and gratitude embraced by the community.”
What Keeps Him Grounded
Ask Cleveland what sustains him through the hard stretches and he doesn’t reach for a productivity hack. He talks about mornings: yoga, meditation, a cup of his own coffee, and the sunrise over the open ocean. He talks about his wife and kids, his parents, a handful of mentors — his grandfather, Dan, Sam, and Ron — who shaped the man before the entrepreneur.
“Hawaiʻi is a special place where I can be consciously present and grounded unlike anywhere else,” he says. “The ocean is my safe place. From fishing, surfing, to simply sitting next to it — the sights, smell, sounds, and feel are soothing to the soul and provide me with peace, clarity, and a reinvigorating refresh.”
The Next Five Years
Cleveland is not chasing scale for its own sake. His vision is what he calls a “happy place” — a business at the right size to sustain his family, his farmers, and his community without sacrificing the craft that makes the product worth making. Mass production and big-box distribution are explicitly not the goal.
"Being a farmer at heart, and to be sustainable for generations to come, it is a long term goal of mine to plant new macadamia nut orchards," Cleveland says.
The immediate focus is on upgrading and streamlining processes to improve efficiency and margins. Longer term, he wants to plant new mac nut orchards — because the supply of locally grown nuts is finite, and building something for generations requires thinking generationally. His advice to other founders captures the whole philosophy in two sentences.
“Good people attract good people, and good people make great things happen together," Cleveland says. "Follow your heart — and do it with humility, respect, and gratitude for all that is and all that isn’t.”
