Hawaii Island Meat Cooperative

Hawaii Island Meat Cooperative operates at 81-6580 Mamalahoa Hwy in Kealakekua, Hawaii County, under USDA establishment number M48184. The federal record lists the plant for both Meat Slaughter and Meat Processing, with a grant of inspection date on file of October 14, 2021. FSIS classifies the establishment as Very Small, and its reported slaughter volume falls in the lowest category, under 1,000 head per year.

Species slaughtered under inspection, as reported to FSIS, are cattle, hogs, and sheep and lamb. The plant also reports custom-exempt processing, the arrangement under which an owner's animal is returned to the owner for personal use and the meat is marked not for sale. The listed phone number is (808) 776-1870.

The website on file for this record, farmlinkhawaii.com, is the storefront of Farm Link Hawaii, an Oahu online grocery and delivery service that lists many island producers and operates the Hoiliili Market and Deli in Honolulu, with pickup at a Kalihi hub and next-day delivery on Oahu. That site is a marketplace rather than the cooperative's own page, and the pages fetched for this record do not describe the plant's schedule, fees, cut and wrap options, or retail sales. Secondary search results describe Hawaii Island Meat Cooperative as a producer-member owned cooperative serving small producers, but details beyond the federal record are not yet on file here.

The federal record shows this establishment is set up for cattle, hogs, and sheep and lamb slaughter under inspection, plus custom-exempt work for producers who want animals returned for their own use. It is a Very Small plant reporting under 1,000 head of slaughter per year, so capacity is limited and scheduling is likely to matter. Booking windows, deposits, kill fees, hanging weight charges, cut and wrap sheets, and drop-off procedures are not stated in the sources on file. Producers should call (808) 776-1870 to confirm what is available, as listed.

Hawaii Island Meat Cooperative reports custom-exempt processing to FSIS, which means it can process an animal a customer already owns (a whole, half, or share bought before slaughter) and return it in packages marked Not for Sale. Most small farms have one or two plants they book with, and the plant's calendar decides the delivery date.

The sources on file do not state that Hawaii Island Meat Cooperative operates a retail counter or sells halves, quarters, or bundles directly to households. The website associated with this record belongs to Farm Link Hawaii, an Oahu online grocery with next-day delivery islandwide, pickup at its Kalihi hub any day except Tuesday, EBT and SNAP payment, and a Meat and Seafood category, along with the Hoiliili Market and Deli storefront in Honolulu open 9 am to 6 pm daily. Whether meat from this establishment is carried there is not confirmed by the fetched text.

If you are buying a half or quarter animal, the plant is where the animal is processed; the farm sells you the animal. Read how to buy a half cow for the sequence and the math.