Kea Keolanui

Marketing Director, OK Farms & Co-Owner/Founder, Hawaii Eco Experiences - Hilo, HI

Kea Keolanui was born and raised in Hilo, on Hawaii Island, she is farmer, rancher, mother and entrepreneur. Her professional career has revolved around tourism and agriculture over the last decade, working for companies such as Hawaii Forest and Trail, Ola Brew, and Hawaiian Ethos both in management and marketing. Kea’s family farm, O.K. Farms is one of the largest producers of tropical fruit in the U.S and is ideally located across from Rainbow Falls in Hilo on Hawaii island which fuels their agritourism offerings. She moved into a marketing role for the family operation and has been leading their team on new initiatives over the last few years. In November, 2019 Kea and her father, Troy Keolanui co-founded Hawaii Eco Experiences (Hawaii Eco), one of the state’s first solely agricultural tour companies, putting a focus on farming, ranching, local food/drink, conservation and sustainability. Their vision for Hawaii Eco was clear with their driving force to increase local food consumption and put money in farmers and ranchers pockets. The company promises a commitment toward regenerative tourism and pledges to not take visitors to public beaches, parks, or destinations that are funded or maintained with county or state dollars. Instead, Hawaii Eco visits local farms/ranches and farm/ranch related businesses, paying them a cover fee alongside utilizing their products on their tours. With the pandemic starting shortly after founding the company, Kea thought outside the box and turned Hawaii Eco into a produce company while tourists where not present in Hawaii. All the seats were taken out of vans, and began their CSA/Food Hub program that is still in operation today. They’ve purchased over a million pounds of produce from farmers over the last five years and put hundreds and thousands of dollars into farmers pockets while increasing local food consumption.