Growers of Papaya in Hawaii and anyone interested in promoting the Hawaii Papaya Industry are welcome to join as members. Dues for membership are $100 annually for Growers, $250 for Handlers, and $350 for Business Sponsors. Please contact our President, Eric Weinert at hawaiipapayaindustryassn@gmail.com or by phone 808-896-2610. He will send you an application form which asks for contact info and puts you into our membership role. The check should be sent to our mailing address, PO Box 6959 Hilo, HI 96720.
The most important reason to be a member is having an effective Statewide organization to respond to any industry problem that may arise. Historically, the HPIA was able to enlist state and federal help when our industry encountered threats. A few examples where our organization was critical in this regard were when papaya ringspot virus threatened the industry in the 1990’s the organization was able to get rights to produce and use virus protected seed. The organization was able to get our genetically engineered fruit into Canada, Japan. We are currently working for approval into China. Several years ago, when the Hawaii County Council were considering a bill to prohibit the growing of our principle “rainbow” variety we were able to defeat that effort.
Members also support our promotion programs to increase awareness and sales of Hawaii Papaya. We promote papaya through participation with the Shared Hawaii Agricultural Commodity group with programs in Japan, Canada and the US Mainland leveraging TASC and MAP funds. In 2021 and 2022 we will begin a targeted social media campaign to promote papaya in North America.