Page 7 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - Dec 21, 2022

Kurisu: Positively Influencing Hawai‘i’s Food Industry
FROM PAGE 6
ple Brand, which is dedicat- ed to locally grown and made products.
or had conflicting interests. Kurisu had to get them to see the bigger picture — with sugar gone, the community needed other economic driv- ers — and convince them to seize the opportunity and work together.
on making food affordable and available and safe,” Kuri- su says.
He recalls his boss at the time, KTA CEO Tony Tani- guchi, telling him, “Derek, when the sugar plantations go down, you become obligated to help (the community) be- cause they helped to build KTA to what it is today.”
“Till today, the label still survives and our company moved forward, really heav- ily, to support our local busi- nesses and local people and local everything,” he says.
Under his leadership, HFIA launched its Legislative Talk Story and Pau Hana panel, a now annual event that con- nects lawmakers with food industry leaders on priority issues — plastic bag bans, minimum wage changes, even whether to allow water to be canned in the state.
At the time, Kurisu, who grew up in Hakalau — now a small, unincorporated community on the Hāmākua Coast, but once a thriving sugar plantation village — says he couldn’t imagine a Hawai‘i without sugar.
Mountain Apple Brand has since expanded to hundreds of Hawai‘i-made products, encompassing everything from milk and poi to beef and baked goods.
Kurisu serves as the pan- el’s volunteer moderator. He’s also the longtime host of cooking demonstrations at HFIA’s Made in Hawai‘i Festival, which attracts thou- sands of shoppers every year.
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2022; talking story with others at the opening ceremony for the 2022 Made in Hawai‘i Festival; and enjoying a laugh at the 2022 HFIA Convention. PHOTOS COURTESY HFIA
But Taniguchi’s prediction came to pass and then Tanigu- chi himself passed away.
Broader Influence
According to HFIA offi- cials, “Derek’s rapport with the chefs and enjoyment of the food engages the audience and allows them to share in the fun of Hawai‘i-made in- gredients.”
Kurisu worked with his successor, Barry Taniguchi, to make things happen.
Beyond Hawai‘i Island, Kurisu has twice chaired the Hawai‘i Food Industry Asso- ciation (first in 2006-2007, then in 2015-2016), making him just one of a handful of individuals to serve in that role more than once.
“It’s humbling to be part of the Hall of Fame because all the other people in there were amazing people,” Kuri- su says.
in business for 106 years; Kurisu has been with it for 54 of those years, working under four Taniguchi family CEOs.
applied I could carry the rice. “I learned from the found- er (of KTA) that rice is a pre- cious food, so we had to treat it with dignity and respect. We couldn’t just shove it off on a cart, we had to hand carry it and show we had our blood and sweat and tears and everything in this product. Those are the small kinds of
“I went out there to try to create new businesses,” he says of his early outreach on behalf of Mountain Ap- ple Brand. “All the existing businesses, I went there to try to help them create products, (to) try to glue all of these food people together to be- come one big family.”
HFIA is the state’s lead- ing voice for more than 200 retailers, manufacturers, distributors and brokers con- nected to Hawai‘i’s food in- dustry.
Or, as Kurisu often jokes, it’s hard work sampling all the good food the islands have to offer but he’s willing to take the hit.
Among them are the late Tony and Barry Taniguchi, his former bosses at KTA.
Hebeganasabagboyat age 16. Back then, he says, the application wasn’t a form and an interview — it was whether you could carry a 100-pound bag of rice.
This isn’t as easy as it might sound. Some of these producers may have seen each other as competition
“We’re competitors but we’re also focused on feeding Hawai‘i, we’ re also focused
It’s impossible to overstate the impact KTA has had on Kurisu.
“My father used to make me train,” he recalls. “We used to buy the rice and I used to carry it at my house so when I turned 16 and I
values I learned.”
When the store Santa Claus
Kurisu hangs out with his son, Blake, and wife, Georganne, on a family trip.
PHOTOS COURTESY DEREK KURISU
Kurisu (back row, second from left) and the late KTA CEO Tony Taniguchi (center, holding trophy) at a 4-H auction in 1970.
Kurisu (right) with the late George Yoshida, who hosted Seniors Living in Paradise. Since Yoshida’s passing, Kurisu has taken on the role of show host.
HFIA marked its 50th anni- versary this year and it chose Kurisu as its 2022 Hall of Fame inductee. Officials cit- ed his generous and inclusive nature and his willingness to lend a hand.
On the Shoulders of Giants
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DECEMBER 21, 2022
HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK 7
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