makana wild hawaii view with text overlay connect with the land legacy of livestock
hawaii view with text overlay legacy of livestock

MAKANA PROVISIONS MEAT CO’s goal is to bring this incredible and delicious meat to your table. Join us in creating a sustainable future for our ranchers, farmers and families.

This land allows for the best beef in the world to be born, raised, finished and harvested locally. As such it is our responsibility to treat it, the people, the animals and all of the hands that play an integral part of our food system with respect and honor. The land is a sacred gift we must cherish as our well being and community is interdependent in the success of local business and future ranchers.

Buy Local, stay local, eat local.

hawaii jungle view with topographic map overlay

Island Ranching Roots

Cattle first arrived in Hawaii in 1793 when Captain George Vancouver gifted six cows and a bull to King Kamehameha, who established a 400-acre pasture and placed a kapu on killing them to allow the herd to grow. By the mid-1800s, wild cattle numbered around 25,000. King Kamehameha III eventually lifted the kapu, leading to the rise of ranches and the introduction of Spanish vaqueros to train Hawaiians in cattle management. Hawaiian beef production evolved from supplying sailors and tanneries to feeding local communities and adopting grain-finishing programs. Up until 1992, most cattle were fed and consumed locally, but rising costs led producers to finish cattle on the Mainland. Today, ranchers continue to support local beef consumption while also shipping calves to the Mainland for finishing.
jerky and meat sticks

Big Demand

  • The average Hawaii resident consumes 57.2 lbs of beef per year
  • Annual demand for beef is 81.2 million lbs, or the equivalent of 161,124 market animals
  • We have over 9.9 million visitors every year who spend a combined 88.6 million days here on our islands
  • At an average of 2.37 oz of beef per day, their demand is 13.9 million pounds of beef, or 27,752 market animals
makana wild venison jerky and beef jerky packages hanging on shelf in market

Local Supply

  • In 2018, local ranchers marketed 54,600 head of cattle, approximately 22.9% of the state’s total demand for beef
  • Due to market conditions and better prices on the mainland, we exported over 43,500 head in 2018
  • Overall production of local beef is 7.4 million lbs, which represents 5.8% of the beef consumed in Hawaii