Hawai‘i Tropical Fruit Growers names recipients of annual appreciation awards

Hawai‘i Tropical Fruit Growers named recipients of its annual appreciation awards during the recent 35th annual Hawai‘i International Tropical Fruit Conference at Hilo Hawaiian Hotel in Hilo on the Big Island.

The awards honor people who advance — through research, education and practice — the use of tropical fruits to support a sustainable, local food industry. The awards also are named in honor of past proponents of the stateʻs fruit industry.

Six women and two men were selected for this year’s cohort of honorees.

Lauded with the Dr. Francis Zee Award was Tracie Matsumoto, research leader for the Tropical Plant Genetic Resources and Disease Research Unit at Daniel K. Inoyue U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center in Hilo.

Matsumoto leads a team of scientists working on genetic improvement and crop health of sub-tropical and tropical crops in the Pacific.

“Tracie has shown passion and commitment to germplasm preservation and is well-deserving of this award,” said Hawai‘i Tropical Fruit Growers Executive Director Ken Love in the announcement of this year’s honorees.

The award is named after the late Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center researcher Zee, who could be counted on for “top quality advice whether a simple gardening question or solving highly complex horticulture problems.”

Focusing on the eradication of parasitic nematodes and insect pests, Roxana Myers and Cathy Mello of Hawai‘i Island are recipients of the Dr. Roger Vargas Award.

“Roxana has successfully assisted growers in developing physical and chemical treatments to control plant parasitic nematodes for the export market,” Love said.

Myers, who is a plant pathologist, identified resistant rootstocks and controlled insect pests such as the sweet potato weevil and most recently the Queensland longhorned beetle using entomopathogenic nematodes.

Mello is recognized for managing plant-parasitic nematodes and invasive insect pests as a research technician at Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center.

“Cathy has devoted her entire career to supporting farmers and protecting local agriculture,” Love said. “Known for her dedication and strong work ethic, she has been a driving force in developing innovative, science-based methods to manage pest problems in ways that are both effective and sustainable.”

The late Vargas was a 40-year, distinguished research entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service and best known for instituting the areawide control of fruit flies in Hawai‘i after more than 100 years of infestation.

Receiving the Lukas Kambic Award was Lisa Keith, a research plant pathologist at Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center.

Keith is cited for her lab, greenhouse and field-based techniques to develop early detection tools for emerging pathogens and deliver practical disease management approaches that can be adopted by growers.

Love said Keith has been instrumental in identifying many pathogens affecting tropical crops such as coffee, guava, longan, macadamia and native ʻōhiʻa.

The late Kambic contributed to research on sweet potato, cassava and taro, as well as unusual fruit such as African peach and others. He is remembered as a brilliant and dedicated scientist whose passion for plants, nature and discovery inspired all his colleagues.

Receiving the William K. Trask Chefs Award was Robert Love of Kona.

A 30-year Hawai‘i Island resident, Love’s creative adaptations of classic world recipes using local produce and proteins are exemplary, said the Hawai‘i Tropical Fruit Growers president.

For example, he takes a classic French poached pear recipe and substitutes pear with locally-grown wax jambu, a cousin of mountain apple, to the delight of diners wanting to taste tropical and usual fruits.

The award is named after the late Trask, a Maui native, who advocated for the use of local food in Hawai‘i cuisine. He was an early adopter of the farm-to-fork concept, using and displaying locally-grown fruit at hotels where he served as an executive chef.

Trask helped organize the stateʻs first farmer-chef conference in 1992.

Earning the Hawai‘i Tropical Fruit Growers Members of the Year Award was Kaua‘i Chapter President Umi Martin along with Nancy Redfeather and Gerry Herbert of Kona.

The award lauds members who give their time and energy into activities that strengthen the organization and contribute to the fruit-growing community.

Martin stands out for “single-handedly putting together a strategic plan that ensures a fruitful future for [Hawai‘i Tropical Fruit Growers],” Ken Love said. “As an example, [Hawai‘i Tropical Fruit Growers] will now have a fruit of the year to provide plant material through its repositories on each island.”

Longtime organic and diversified farmers Redfeather and Herbert have taken grape research to the next level by propagating a number of grape cultivars previously attempted without success.

The association also named the 2026 Fruit of the Year during its annual conference — achachairu, better known as achacha or Bolivian mangosteen.

Visit the Hawai‘i Tropical Fruit Growers website for additional information about the organization and all of the research and work its members are doing.