Lydgate Farms
Lydgate Farms is a fifth-generation family farm on Kauai, Hawaii that produces single-estate craft chocolate, vanilla, and honey using proprietary grafting and wild-yeast fermentation techniques, selling direct-to-consumer via e-commerce, a Kapaa tasting room, and educational farm tours.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2008
- HeadquartersKapaa, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Lydgate Farms does
Lydgate Farms is a privately held, fifth-generation family farm operating a 46-acre single estate on Olohena Road above Kapaa on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. It produces single-origin craft chocolate, hand-pollinated vanilla, and raw palm-blossom honey using proprietary techniques including its LF Series cacao grafting program (which combines farm-developed varieties with research cultivars such as ICS-95 and UH4), wild-yeast fermentation in untreated maple boxes, and regenerative agriculture practices aligned with the Hawaiian Malama 'Aina philosophy. The business sells these products direct-to-consumer through its own e-commerce storefront (lydgatefarms.shop) and a retail Chocolate Tasting Room in downtown Kapaa, with wholesale distribution through select Hawaii-based retailers.
The company's go-to-market pairs product sales with an agritourism engine: a three-hour Chocolate Farm Tour ($145-$335) and a two-hour Inside the Hive Honey & Bee Tour ($65-$115), both operated Monday-Friday at the farm and booked via FareHarbor, with upsell into tasting experiences, retail purchases, subscription boxes, and holiday gift packs. Lydgate has been recognized three times by the Cocoa of Excellence programme in Paris (2017, 2021, 2023, including a 2023 Gold) as producing among the top 50 cacao beans globally, and is ranked the #1 tour on Kauai by TripAdvisor and #1 Best Guided Tour in Hawaii Magazine's 2023 Readers' Choice Awards.
Lydgate's revenue model rests on three pillars: one-time agritourism ticket sales, DTC and wholesale consumer product sales, and a growing recurring layer via monthly chocolate subscription boxes. Customer segments span Kauai tourists, craft chocolate enthusiasts, gift buyers, and a smaller cohort of agriculture professionals. The business is family-owned with no external investors, was renamed from Steelgrass to Lydgate Farms in 2023 to emphasize the multi-generational heritage, and operates with 11-50 employees across the farm and Kapaa tasting room.
Lydgate Farms firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Lydgate Farms
- Legal name
- Lydgate Farms
- Website
- https://lydgatefarms.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2008
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Lydgate Farms is a fifth-generation family farm on Kauai, Hawaii that produces single-estate craft chocolate, vanilla, and honey using proprietary grafting and wild-yeast fermentation techniques, selling direct-to-consumer via e-commerce, a Kapaa tasting room, and educational farm tours.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Lydgate Farms industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Craft Chocolate
- NAICS
- Fruit and Tree Nut Farming (1113)
- SIC
- Agricultural Production-Crops (100)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Coffee & Cacao Plantations (Coffee, Cocoa) (AFAGACAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Tea, Coffee & Cocoa Farming (Beverage Specialty Crops) (AFAGAGAG), Farmstead & Local Artisan Food Markets (Retail Shops) (CRAHAGAO), Herb Farming (Basil, Parsley, Cilantro, Mint, Dill) (AFAGADAK)
Keywords
Where Lydgate Farms is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Kapaa
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Lydgate Farms business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Farm Tours: Three-hour Chocolate Farm Tour ($145/person, $335 for Deluxe Adult including chocolate package) and two-hour Honey & Bee Tour ($115/adult, $65/child ages 7-12). Tours include extensive tastings and educational experiences. Booked through FareHarbor platform. Major revenue stream supporting agritourism business model.
- Chocolate and Food Products: Direct-to-consumer sales of single-origin chocolate bars (70% dark, 50% milk chocolate, rum bars, etc.), Kauai Palm Blossom Honey, vanilla beans, vanilla extract kits, cacao nib candies, and subscription boxes. Products sold through online shop and at Lydgate Chocolate Tasting Room.
- Gift Boxes and Holiday Packages: Curated holiday packages including the Big Kahuna Farm Sampler, Dark Chocolate Tasting Pack, and 12-bar custom packs. Pre-orders for December shipment. Higher-margin gift products during holiday season.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Chocolate Farm Tour - Adult (Ages 13+) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Chocolate Farm Tour - Deluxe Adult |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Chocolate Farm Tour - Child (Ages 7-12) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Honey & Bee Tour - Adult (Ages 13+) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Honey & Bee Tour - Child (Ages 7-12) |
| Subscription | Monthly | Chocolate Subscription Boxes |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Lydgate Farms product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Lydgate Farms is a 46-acre fifth-generation family farm on Kauai, Hawaii that grows single-estate cacao, vanilla, and honey, and produces bean-to-bar craft chocolate, vanilla products, and raw honey. The farm offers guided educational Chocolate Farm Tours and Honey & Bee Tours, and sells products directly through an online store and a retail Chocolate Tasting Room in Kapaa.
Product overview
Lydgate Farms is a fifth-generation family-owned cacao and chocolate farm on Kauai, Hawaii, offering agritourism experiences and craft chocolate products. The core product portfolio consists of two guided farm tours (Chocolate Farm Tour and Inside the Hive: Honey & Bee Tour) and a retail Chocolate Tasting Room. The company's chocolate products include single-origin dark, milk, and specialty bars (70% Dark, 50% Milk, Koloa Rum Bar, Sea Salt, Palm Blossom Honey varieties), complemented by Hawaiian vanilla beans, raw honey, chocolate subscriptions, and gift packages. All products are sustainably grown and crafted on the 46-acre farm in upcountry Kauai.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Chocolate Farm Tour
Quantifiable outcome
- Cacao beans ranked among top 50 best in the world at Cocoa of Excellence awards (2017, 2021, 2023)
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Lydgate Farms
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Lydgate Farms technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Lydgate Farms partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Koloa Rum CompanycoreLydgate Farms partnered with Kauai's Koloa Rum Company to create unique chocolate bars. Lydgate's single-origin cacao nibs are steeped in Koloa Rum for up to 18 days to create Kauai Cacao Rum. The rum-infused beans are returned to Lydgate Farm and refined with organic cane sugar to produce the 75% Dark Chocolate with Koloa Hawaiian Rum Bar. A completely Kauai-made collaboration showcasing local ingredients.
- Aloha Spice CompanyminorSweet and savory seasoning blends made with Lydgate Farms' cacao nibs, sold in partnership with Kauai's Aloha Spice Company. Products include seasoning grinders suitable for salads, veggies, meat, or fish. Available at Aloha Spice Company's Hanapepe location.
- Monkeypod JamminorPartnership with local jam experts Monkeypod Jam to create Cacao Nectar Jelly made from rare Miel de Cacao - the juice drippings from the white fruit around the cacao bean. Limited edition holiday product exclusive to Lydgate Farms shop.
- Uncle Mikey's Gourmet Hawaiian Dried FruitminorCollaboration featuring seasonal selection of premium dried Hawaiian fruit (coconut, banana, pineapple, papaya) combined with Lydgate Farms cacao nibs for candy products. Chewy dried Kauai coconut paired with crunchy cacao nibs covered in brown sugar and chocolate.
- Manoa ChocolateminorPartnership with Manoa Chocolate for flavor evaluation. Tamara Butterbaugh (Tam), one of Manoa Chocolate's co-founders, created tasting notes for Lydgate Farms Spring 2019 harvest and developed flavor profiles and fun pairings for their chocolate products.
- Trilogy CoffeeminorTrilogy Coffee in Kilauea stocks Lydgate Farms premium Kauai-grown craft chocolate, making products available to visitors and locals in the Kilauea area.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Lydgate Farms competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Madre Chocolate: Oahu-based bean-to-bar chocolate maker sourcing cacao from Hawaiian and Pacific farms. Comparable on craft chocolate positioning, single-origin storytelling, and agritourism-adjacent educational experiences.
- Manoa Chocolate: Hawaii-based bean-to-bar craft chocolate maker. Direct comparable because it shares Hawaiian-origin single-estate cacao, small-batch production, and overlapping wholesale and DTC channels; Lydgate has even partnered with Manoa on flavor evaluation.
- Big Island Bees: Hawaii-based raw honey producer with farm tours and retail. Directly comparable on the Hawaiian single-origin honey, agritourism tour, and tasting room go-to-market that Lydgate uses for its honey line.
- Askinosie Chocolate: Single-origin bean-to-bar craft chocolate maker with direct-trade sourcing and a chocolate factory tour. Comparable on the single-estate sourcing story, factory tour experience, and premium DTC pricing.
- Hawaiian Vanilla Company: Hawaii-based vanilla farm offering farm tours and vanilla products. Comparable on the hand-pollinated single-estate Hawaiian vanilla positioning, farm-tour model, and value-added vanilla products.
Regional players
- Surfing Goat Dairy: Kauai-based agritourism farm offering guided tours and on-site retail of value-added farm products. Comparable on the Kauai agritourism GTM, tour-led retail conversion, and small-farm premium positioning.
- Koloa Rum Company: Kauai-based spirits producer and Lydgate co-branding partner (Koloa Hawaiian Rum Bar). Comparable as a Hawaii-based premium food/beverage brand leveraging Kauai provenance, agritourism, and local ingredient storytelling.
Broad incumbents
- Dandelion Chocolate: San Francisco-based bean-to-bar craft chocolate company with factory tours and a national DTC footprint. Comparable on the craft chocolate + factory tour model, though operating at significantly larger scale and capital base.
- Valrhona: French premium chocolate producer used as an ingredient reference (Lydgate uses Valrhona in some products). Comparable on the high-end craft chocolate category, though operating globally with a much broader product catalog.
- Mast Brothers Chocolate: Brooklyn-based pioneer of American craft bean-to-bar chocolate. Comparable on single-origin craft positioning and brand-led storytelling, with broader product distribution and higher public visibility.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Lydgate Farms social profiles
Digital presenceLydgate Farms financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Lydgate Farms leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Lydgate Farms funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Lydgate Farms M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Lydgate Farms
What does Lydgate Farms do?
Lydgate Farms is a 46-acre fifth-generation family farm on Kauai, Hawaii that grows single-estate cacao, vanilla, and honey, and produces bean-to-bar craft chocolate, vanilla products, and raw honey. The farm offers guided educational Chocolate Farm Tours and Honey & Bee Tours, and sells products directly through an online store and a retail Chocolate Tasting Room in Kapaa.
Is Lydgate Farms a public or private company?
Lydgate Farms is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Lydgate Farms founded?
Lydgate Farms was founded in 2008. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Lydgate Farms based?
Lydgate Farms is headquartered in Kapaa, United States, in the North America region.
How does Lydgate Farms make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Farm Tours are the primary driver. The others are chocolate and Food Products and gift Boxes and Holiday Packages.
Who are Lydgate Farms's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Madre Chocolate, Manoa Chocolate, Big Island Bees, Askinosie Chocolate and Hawaiian Vanilla Company. Regional players are Surfing Goat Dairy and Koloa Rum Company. Broad incumbents are Dandelion Chocolate, Valrhona and Mast Brothers Chocolate.
Does Lydgate Farms have an API?
No public API is recorded for Lydgate Farms.
What industry is Lydgate Farms in?
Lydgate Farms's product category is Craft Chocolate. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAGACAI, Coffee & Cacao Plantations (Coffee, Cocoa), with a secondary code of AFAGAGAG, Tea, Coffee & Cocoa Farming (Beverage Specialty Crops). Its NAICS code is 1113 and its SIC code is 100.