Kalapana Tropicals is located on 6 acres 12 miles South of Hilo Town on Huina Road in the country town of Kurstistown on the Big Island of Hawaii. Built from the ground up by the owners 28 years ago, the Kurtistown location is comprised of nearly 50,000 square feet of Conley steel frame greenhouses with cinder block and wire mesh benches. All green houses are covered with plastic film and have an automated irrigation system that is run by 4 irrigation control panels and tied in with a dual pump injector system. Three ranges plus 3 free standing greenhouses house nearly 300,000 orchids ranging in size from plug trays to blooming 4" pots and are comprised of a mix of many genus; Oncidium, Intergeneric Oncidinae, Zygopetalum, Paphiopedium, Brassia, Cattleya, Dendrobium, Masdevallia, Miltonia, Vanda along with a few species.
To ensure their future stock, Kalapana Tropicals works with two tissue culture labs in Thailand who do custom clone work and ships orchid keikis back to Hawaii in flask 3-4 times a year. There is a corporate office located within the packing area and they have great shipping contracts with both FEDEX and UPS whom deliver 80% of their product.
Kalapana Tropicals has a beautiful website, a retail on-line store and a wholesale on line store which is the bulk of the business. Orchids ready to bloom are shipped to the US Mainland, Puerto Rico and several international destinations as they are one of the few nurseries that has CITES a permit to ship international. The customer base is comprised of retail nurseries and garden centers, botanical gardens, orchid nurseries, orchid societies, hotels, private residences, interior plantscapers, landscapers and individuals who sell at several orchid shows throughout the year. Plus there is the retail on line store where they ship direct to consumers. They export approximately 60-70,000 orchids a year and complement what they grow by brokering some plants from neighboring orchid farms. They have a strong email marketing program with newsletters that are sent out weekly to roughly 2,000 email addresses for wholesale contacts alone with another 2,000 for retail sales. Kalapana Tropicals has a great reputation with their customer base as well as with the Hawaiian Orchid industry members.
Located on the nursery is a beautifully constructed and maintained 2,774 sq foot 2 story house originally built in 1964 with a new addition and remodel done in 1995. There is a large 2 bay garage and a 2 car carport and covered lanais both up and downstairs. The interior has oak, slate and teak flooring, custom hardwood cabinetry, granite counters, 2 living rooms, a large high ceilinged master bedroom with a walk in closet and master bath in addition to 3 bedrooms another full bath and 2 ½ bath. This property also boasts an outdoor covered BBQ area with seating and hot/cold running water as well as a weight room with a Jacuzzi and dry sauna. The ½ million gallon reservoir is perfect for swimming and hosting gatherings as well as quiet times during sunrise and sunset but will also serve as a great back up water supply to the county water system.
In addition to the orchid greenhouses there is a complete tropical fruit tree orchard where there is always something in production. The orchard is comprised of oranges, tangelos, lemons, bananas, lychee, longan, rambutan, mountain apple, guava, avocado and a small field of producing coffee trees plus a small chicken coop for fresh egg production. The entire property is landscaped with flowering plants, trees, palms with lots of lawn as well.
With excellent cash flow from Kalapana Tropicals combined with the beautifully planted property and Hawaiian style home, one can have a very comfortable lifestyle working right from home on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Check out the Website!
