Machine To Turn Local Meat And Produce Into Fancy Food Is Tangled In Red Tape

French chef Pierre Daguzan has an idea for controlling the axis deer population threatening Molokaʻi: turn the pesty critters into fancy food and eat them. But he faces a challenge: how to keep his food fresh without using preservatives.

The state owns a new device designed to help artisan food makers like Daguzan do just that. But the technology is so new that regulations haven’t caught up.

Daguzan and his wife’s company, Daguzan Charcuterie, produce pâtés, terrines and other French charcuterie products using local chicken, pork and axis deer. Daguzan hopes to grow the business but production has been limited by a series of regulatory hurdles, especially related to food safety.

The Department of Health recently approved the sale of his products – made using centuries-old French food preservation techniques – with a realistic shelf-life: 30 days. But he’s interested in extending his products’ life on the shelf even more as he expands.

He’s working with the new state-owned Wahiawā Value-Added Product Development Center. The facility was built around a new high-pressure pasteurization machine that can extend the shelf life of products like Daguzan’s.

But for him or anyone to use it they have to navigate a web of regulatory hurdles.

Nobody has used the machine in more than a year since the center opened.

Peter Oshiro, the program manager at the state Department of Health’s food safety branch, says the state is used to more traditional methods of pasteurization and preservation. Chemical preservatives and heat pasteurization have been the most common for a long long time. The new

Using pressure to kill germs only came on the scene in the late 1980s but never really took off until the 2010s.

“The only thing we’re not familiar with is the use of that machine. Everything else is basically (written) for us, it’s standard practice,” he said. 

Novelty Of Pressure Pasteurization Poses Problems

A centerpiece of the state’s $21.6 million Wahiawā Value-Added Product Development Center, the high-pressure processing machine is meant to help grow Hawaiʻi’s local food industry by letting artisan foods makers extend the shelf life of manufactured products made with local meat and produce. Commercial machines cost anywhere from $600,000 to $4 million.

The idea is that things like jams, hummus, juices and meat products could break down and lose flavor under the crucible of traditional pasteurizing. Products could still last long and taste good if the makers could kill bacteria with pressure instead of heat or chemicals.

Proponents say it’s a key to preparing the foods for export.

But that dream has gone nowhere so far.

Hailey Zhou is a product development manager at the Wahiawā center. She’s worked closely with local entrepreneurs looking to use the facility and processor. She says before they can start processing products to sell, entrepreneurs must meet state and federal food safety guidelines and prove their product is safe. 

Food makers must show germs that can cause illness are killed after processing. For well studied products and methods, Zhou said, in-depth testing can be bypassed. There’s plenty of research on traditional heat pasteurization for products like orange juice and guacamole. 

“If we’re not using heat to pasteurize, HPP would need to achieve the same lethality, meaning be able to reduce pathogen count (by) the same amount,” Zhou said. “And that can be a huge barrier to entry.”

“The theme is just that a lot of things are new to, you know, both the regulatory side and our center,” she added.

Dreams Of A Sustainable Pâté

On a recent afternoon, Daguzan was at Washington Place to kick-off Mana Up’s new cohort of small businesses, which gain expertise needed to take their tiny enterprises to the next level.

On hand with the Daguzans were roasted Kaua’i Gourmet Nuts, crudites and hummus seasoned with Aloha Spice Company’s blends, and lole by Maoi Swim, Sugar Caddy and Keani Hawai’i. 

Daguzan and his wife, Courtney Ke’alaohalaomapuana Daguzan, were set up in a corner with three platters of different pâtés spread on bread for guests to sample. He stood in front of a life-sized poster of himself as he and his wife served and promoted his product. 

Pierre, who was born and raised in France, grew up eating pâté and charcuterie and realized he had a gift for making it after catering a party. Courtney was raised with the Hawaiian value of mālama ʻāina. Committed to traditional french recipes and using local food, Daguzan Charcuterie was born. 

Using venison isn’t necessarily traditional. But axis deer wreak havoc on Molokaʻi and Maui’s watersheds. In culling operations to control the population, the meat from the deer are rarely harvested. Some say this amounts to thousands of pounds of food wasted. 

Using axis deer for his pâtés seemed like a better, more sustainable option to the couple. Daguzan began working with hunters and developed a recipe. The result: a bold, distinctly Hawaiʻi flavor, balanced with herbs, aromatics and local papaya.

He sells his products in farmers markets in Kakaʻako, Kailua and online through Farm Link Hawaiʻi and his website. But he’s eager to grow. Daguzan wants to see his products on local store shelves, in hotels, and eventually beyond Hawaiʻi. 

He says his products are shelf-stable for 30 days. Surviving the retail supply chain requires it to be stored longer. Using the high-pressure processor could do that for him. 

Some Artisans Must Test Food

The problem, Oshiro says, is that high-pressure pasteurization is relatively new to the U.S. As a result, he says, the FDA model food code, from which Hawaiʻi adapts its code, hasn’t standardized the pressure needed to kill certain germs.

The code doesn’t rule it out. But it requires a “well designed inoculation study or other published scientific research” if food is going to be stored without refrigeration for an extended time. Hawaiʻi requires the same. 

This ongoing series delves deep into what it would take for Hawai‘i to decrease its dependence on imported food and be better positioned to grow its own.

The process can be laborious. The tests can cost anywhere between $5,000 to $8,000, Zhou said. There’s also no lab in the state to support the studies currently, though the Whitmore Food Hub will once it opens in 2027. 

So far, entrepreneurs looking to use the high-pressure processor have been caught up in the testing phase. Zhou said the machine is ready to use as soon as the companies are approved.

Once a company gets approval for its product, other manufacturers will be able to use the machine for similar products, Oshiro said. But, he added, “somebody has to invest some money” for testing.

Daguzan said he’s looking into it, but hasn’t decided yet.

“Hawai‘i Grown” is funded in part by grants from the Stupski Foundation, Ulupono Fund at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation and the Frost Family Foundation.