biz briefs 5-24

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Meadow Gold’s new Kona Coffee Premium Ice Cream is available at select grocery stores across Hawaii.

Toyama is director of Friends of NELHA

Guy Toyama of Kona has been selected executive director of the group Friends of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority, board chairman David Vaughn has announced.

Friends of NELHA is an independent, nonprofit volunteer organization dedicated to promoting education and outreach programs for the Hawaii Gateway Energy Center and the Hawaii Ocean Science and Technology Park, both in the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority at Keahole Point. FON was incorporated in 2001 and has a 13-member governing board made up of community leaders.

Born and raised on Maui, Toyama spent more than six years working for a publishing company in Japan and more recently has been involved in a number of business enterprises in Hawaii.

Toyama is president of the Big Island chapter of the Hawaii Food Manufacturing Association, a board member of the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce and a graduate of the Ulumau Hawaii Island Leadership Series sponsored by the Hawaii Island Economic Development Corporation.


Organic Kona coffee grower expands products

Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation is moving its award-winning products into Costco, Maui Wowi Hawaiian’s worldwide franchises and grocers’ freezers, working together with Meadow Gold Dairies of Hawaii.

“Mountain Thunder not only provides these companies with Kona coffee but the highest quality Kona coffee available,” owner Trent Bateman said. “Our mission is to be purveyors of the finest 100 percent Kona coffee possible.”

With demand for Mountain Thunder products growing hotter than a cup of its brew, Bateman decided it was time to cool down. So he developed his own premium Kona coffee-flavored ice cream concept that was recently scooped up by Meadow Gold Dairies of Hawaii. While most Kona coffee ice creams on the market settle for freeze-dried 10 percent blends for flavor, the collaborative recipe uses an extract derived from Mountain Thunder’s ultra-fine grind 100 percent Kona coffee to enhance the flavor and provide a speckled texture.

Meadow Gold’s new Kona Coffee Premium Ice Cream is available at select grocery stores across Hawaii.