ABSTRACT
Taro is processed and sold in several forms in Hawaii today. These include poi, chips, and kulolo. Poi is the ground form of taro with some water added, chips are similar in shape though not in taste to potato chips, and kulolo is a semi-hard product made from taro, coconut, and sugar. In the past the list also included flour and bread. Taro is also sold in Hawaii in supermarkets in its fresh form, sometimes described as table taro.
This paper focuses mostly on the processing of taro into poi. The reason for this is fairly simple. The bulk of taro grown in Hawaii is processed into poi and only a small proportion of the crop is sold in the fresh form or ends up as chips or kulolo.
Whatever the role and importance of poi in the past, the figures in this study suggest that, except where processors have sources of high quality taro, poi making is not a particularly profitable business today.
