Local Business • Sustainability • Community Giving • Local Food Systems • Hawaiʻi Jobs
Born Here. Brewing Here. Giving Back Here.
What does it mean for a successful Hawaiʻi business to be a steward of the place it calls home?
For Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi, the answer can be found in what happens beyond the pint.
It is found in solar panels soaking up Kona sunshine.
In water being reclaimed rather than wasted.
In spent grain becoming feed for local farm animals.
In fish purchased from Hawaiʻi fishermen and ingredients sourced from island growers and makers.
In hundreds of local jobs.
And in community organizations across Hawaiʻi receiving support to continue doing good work.
Founded in Kailua-Kona in 1994, Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi has grown from a small local brewery into one of Hawaii’s most recognizable homegrown brands.
Yet its connection to Hawaiʻi remains central to how the company operates.
For Support Local Hawaii, Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi demonstrates an important side of stewardship:
A local business can succeed while investing in the community, economy and environment that make its success possible.
Born in Kona
Kona Brewing’s story began in 1994 when father and son Cameron Healy and Spoon Khalsa set out to create local craft beers inspired by the spirit and beauty of Hawaiʻi.
The first batch was brewed in 1995.
What began in a converted Kailua-Kona warehouse grew over the decades with the support of employees, customers, local businesses and community relationships.
Today, Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi operates its brewery and original pub in Kailua-Kona along with a pub in Hawaiʻi Kai on Oʻahu.
Its modern Kona brewery supports local production for Hawaiʻi while providing jobs and keeping brewing activity rooted in the islands.
More than three decades after it began, Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi remains connected to the place where its story started:
Kona.
Brewing With the Sun
One of the clearest examples of Kona Brewing Hawaii’s environmental stewardship sits above the brewery.
More than 1,200 solar panels help turn Kona sunshine into energy used for brewing and packaging.
According to the brewery, just one hour of sunshine can generate approximately 400 kWh of energy — enough to produce and package more than 1,000 gallons of beer.
It is an elegant example of what sustainability can look like in Hawaiʻi:
Use the resources available locally while reducing pressure on the resources that are limited.
Every Drop Matters
Fresh water is one of Hawaii’s most precious resources.
Brewing requires water, which makes conservation especially important.
Kona Brewing Hawaii’s modern brewing system uses a high-efficiency mash press designed to conserve both water and grain, using approximately 10% fewer resources than conventional brewing equipment.
The brewery also operates a water reclamation system that naturally treats wastewater so it can be reused for purposes including landscape irrigation and cleaning.
That reduces the brewery’s need for county-supplied water and gives water already used in the brewing process another purpose.
In an island environment, that matters.
Stewardship means recognizing that resources are finite — and designing systems accordingly.
Turning Brewing Byproducts Into Farm Resources
Sustainability can also mean asking a simple question:
What else can this become?
Brewing produces spent grain.
Instead of treating most of that grain as waste, Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi salvages it and donates it to local farmers as nutritious feed for farm animals.
What remains can be composted.
The result is a small but meaningful circular relationship:
Grain enters the brewery.
Beer is produced.
The remaining grain supports local agriculture.
Waste is reduced.
And another Hawaiʻi business or farmer receives something useful.
That is the kind of connection a resilient island economy needs more of.
Supporting Hawaii’s Farmers, Fishermen and Makers
Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi also looks locally when sourcing ingredients for its pubs whenever possible.
Its partners include Hawaiʻi-based fishermen, farmers, ranchers and makers supplying seafood, coffee, vanilla, tropical fruits, greens, herbs, vegetables and other ingredients.
One longstanding example is Kona-born fisherman Jeff Silva of Ulaʻula Fish Company, who has supplied fresh ahi to the Kona Pub for more than two decades.
These purchasing decisions matter.
Every time a Hawaiʻi business chooses another Hawaiʻi business, more of that economic activity has an opportunity to remain within our islands.
A local restaurant sourcing from a local fisherman supports more than a menu.
It supports a fishing family.
A local supply chain.
Local knowledge.
Local jobs.
And a more resilient Hawaiʻi economy.
Supporting local creates ripples.
Makana Giving: Supporting Hawaii’s Nonprofits
Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi has supported Hawaiʻi-based nonprofit organizations since its founding.
Through its Makana Local Giving Program, the company supports community organizations working across areas ranging from environmental protection to programs improving quality of life for Hawaiʻi residents, particularly youth.
Support has included product sponsorships for fundraising events, gift cards, brewery tours and merchandise organizations can use to raise funds or awareness.
Importantly, the program is intentionally local.
Makana Giving supports only organizations and events based in Hawaiʻi.
That decision keeps the program focused on the communities surrounding the business itself.
Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi reports supporting more than 100 local community events and nonprofit organizations each year.
For Support Local Hawaii, that is an important model of business stewardship:
Success creates an opportunity to help others succeed.
More Than 200 Hawaiʻi Jobs
Supporting local also means supporting the people who live here.
Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi employs more than 200 Hawaiʻi residents across its brewery and pubs.
Those jobs span brewing, hospitality, food service, operations and other parts of the business.
Employment is one of the most direct ways a local company contributes to Hawaii’s economy.
A paycheck doesn’t stop with an employee.
It helps support housing.
Groceries.
Local businesses.
Families.
Keiki.
And the larger community.
Keeping production in Hawaiʻi also means more of the work required to produce what Hawaiʻi consumes can happen here at home.
Ocean-Friendly Pubs
Hawaii’s businesses have a particular responsibility to the ocean surrounding us.
Both Kona Brewing Hawaii’s Kona and Hawaiʻi Kai pubs have been recognized by the Surfrider Foundation’s Ocean Friendly Restaurants program for practices designed to reduce plastic waste and operate with greater consideration for ocean health.
The brewery has also worked to reduce impacts associated with packaging.
A large majority of its 12-ounce cans for the Hawaiʻi market are sourced and produced within Hawaiʻi, reducing transportation associated with bringing packaging across the Pacific.
Those aluminum cans contain more than 70% recycled material and can themselves be recycled.
No business operates without environmental impact.
Stewardship is the continuing work of understanding that impact and finding practical ways to reduce it.
Community Is Part of the Business
Kona Brewing’s pubs have also become gathering places.
They showcase local musicians.
They host community events.
They provide space for residents and visitors to gather.
At the Kona Pub, kamaʻāina, military personnel and first responders — including police, firefighters, paramedics and lifeguards — receive community appreciation discounts.
These gestures may seem small alongside major sustainability investments.
But stewardship exists at different scales.
Sometimes it is infrastructure.
Sometimes it is philanthropy.
Sometimes it is choosing a local supplier.
And sometimes it is simply saying:
We see the people who serve our community, and we appreciate you.
Why Support Local Hawaii Recognizes Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi
Support Local Hawaii believes stewardship isn’t limited to nonprofits.
Businesses have tremendous power to shape Hawaii’s future.
They decide where money is spent.
Who gets hired.
Where products are made.
Which suppliers receive contracts.
How resources are consumed.
How waste is handled.
And whether success is shared with the community that helped make that success possible.
Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi provides examples across each of these areas.
1,200+ solar panels.
Water reclamation and resource-efficient brewing.
Spent grain donated to local farmers.
Ingredients purchased from Hawaiʻi producers.
200+ Hawaiʻi jobs.
100+ local community events and nonprofits supported annually.
A giving program dedicated exclusively to Hawaiʻi organizations.
Each action is different.
Together, they tell a larger story.
For its continuing investment in Hawaii’s people, environment, local economy and nonprofit community, Support Local Hawaii is proud to recognize Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi as a Hawaiʻi Steward.
Stewardship in Action
Sustainability
1,200+ solar panels helping power local brewing and packaging
400 kWh generated from approximately one hour of sunshine under stated average conditions
10% fewer water and grain resources used by its high-efficiency brewing system compared with conventional equipment
Water reclamation allowing treated brewing wastewater to be reused
Spent grain donated to local farmers for animal feed, with remaining material composted
Supporting Local
Hawaiʻi fishermen, farmers, ranchers and makers supply ingredients used by the brewery and pubs.
A large majority of 12-ounce cans for the Hawaiʻi market are sourced and produced in Hawaiʻi.
More than 200 Hawaiʻi residents are employed across Kona Brewing Hawaii’s operations.
Giving Back
More than 100 Hawaiʻi community events and nonprofit organizations supported each year
Makana Local Giving dedicated exclusively to Hawaii-based organizations and events
Community support focused on causes including environmental protection, youth and quality of life throughout the islands
A Model for Business Stewardship
Hawaiʻi needs successful local businesses.
But our islands also need businesses that understand something deeper:
Where you do business matters.
The health of our environment matters.
The strength of our local economy matters.
The people working beside us matter.
The farmers, fishermen and makers supplying us matter.
And the community supporting our success matters.
When businesses recognize those relationships and make decisions accordingly, commerce becomes something more.
It becomes participation in the wellbeing of place.
That is business stewardship.
Mahalo to the entire Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi ʻohana — past and present — and to the local growers, fishermen, ranchers, makers, nonprofit organizations and community partners whose relationships continue to shape this homegrown Hawaiʻi story.
Brew here.
Employ here.
Source here.
Give here.
Mālama here.
This is local supporting local.
This is stewardship in action.
Connect With Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi
Business: Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi
Founded: 1994
Home: Kailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi Island
Business Type: Independent Hawaiʻi Craft Brewery & Hospitality Business
Stewardship Areas: Sustainability • Local Jobs • Local Sourcing • Community Giving • Environmental Responsibility • Local Food Systems
Support Local Hawaii Recognition: Hawaiʻi Steward
Support Kona Brewing Hawaiʻi by visiting its local locations, choosing locally brewed products, and learning more about the company’s sustainability and community-giving programs.
