Brand Equity

Jason Brand dispensed a rivulet of his Kō Hana Koa rhum agricole into a tasting glass
as grass, sarsaparilla, and baking spice aromatics wafted from the distillate imbrued with a burnt umber tint from its barrel-aging in Hawai‘i’s endemic acacia. The fiery elixir embodied the impassioned pursuit of a former derivative trader who sought to forge something local and sustainable, while contributing cogent solutions to address some of the socio-economic issues plaguing the Elysian islands he calls home.

Brand’s resolve did not flow from a history steeped in spirits. Rather, the New York native who grew up in Miami returned to the Northeast and exchanged his scuba gear for a business suit to study finance and banking at Cornell University before trading on Wall Street. Strategically pivoting to investment banking and then to managing and morphing debt and equity sales, Brand ascended the corporate ladder to become the president of Merrill Lynch Asia. After retirement, Brand and his movie producer wife, Malindi Fickle, relocated to Hawai‘i, an erstwhile vacation destination they “test marketed” frequently for residence, falling in love with the tropical weather, the kindhearted people, and the ubiquitous values that prioritize family.

“For two years, I didn’t do very much. I came out of years of hundred-hour weeks. I traded in my business suit for a bathing suit, and I really got back into the water,” he disclosed. However, the water he initially referred to for surfing and boating deviated toward something more along the lines of irrigation.

“Hawai‘i is talking a lot about how most of its food is imported — 90% is imported,” Brand observed. “Together with my business partners, we said let’s start a food farm under three principles: let’s grow food locally, let’s grow food sustainably, and using business principles, let’s grow food in such scale that we can lower food prices for the people of Hawai‘i.”

Acknowledging the fact that Hawai‘i had local or sustainable farms, but cognizant of the absence of scaled acreages that could compete with produce prices from states such as California, he launched Kunia Country Farms to feed Hawai‘i’s local community. Over the span of 13 years, Brand learned about the unique farming conditions on O‘ahu’s Leeward side and incorporated a cost-effective irrigation system that recirculated water using gravity and minimal pumping powered by solar panels. The company recruited agricultural expert Dean Okimoto and rebranded as Nalo Farms, posturing to assist the state in achieving its goal of having 30% of food in Hawai‘i’s public schools sourced locally by 2030.

With Nalo Farms designated as “agriculture for local consumption,” Brand’s second venture, Kō Hana Rum, was “agriculture for export.” However, he initially founded this endeavor to address another issue: the exorbitant costs associated with energy.

“The original goal of Kō Hana Rum wasn’t making rum,” he reveals. “We were actually trying to solve Hawai‘i’s electricity prices problem.”

Brand, along with his business partners, embarked on a quest to set the infrastructural stage for a technology-based industry, one that could afford to furnish six-figure incomes for his future grandchildren and their generation of local cohorts. After six years of research on viable plants, Brand’s team of scientists discovered about three dozen genetically-tested varietals of sugarcane — a perennial grass used as feedstock in the production of affordable biodiesel. His entrepreneurial mind then realized an alternative business model of producing rum could still help him achieve his endeavors.

And since Hawai‘i was the seventh-largest market in the United States consuming rum — courtesy of the mai tai introduced by Trader Vic — a thriving market already existed to fuel his nascent direction.

Assuming the trade name Kō Hana Rum, he and his colleagues incorporated Kō Hana Distillers in 2011. Abiding by similar environmentally and economically sustainable practices and philosophies as his lettuce farm, they established sugarcane farms in Kunia, Waialua, and Hale‘iwa and started crafting agricole rums worthy of global attention.

Each of the region’s distinct terroirs was imbued in the flavors of the heirloom sugarcanes planted, be it the iron-rich volcanic minerality in Kunia, the grassy sweetness of Waialua, or the marked salinity of Hale‘iwa. Factoring in the arid climate and controls in native yeast fermentations, the resulting cane juice was distilled and then aged in various classifications
of lightly charred barrels made of American oak, French oak or native Koa wood. Casks from prominent brands of whiskey, wines, sherry, Cognac and other libations imparted their unique flavor attributes, resulting in a series of rums expressing opulently fragrant, yet remarkably intense flavors.

With his sights on becoming the best rum in the world, Brand is now promoting Hawai‘i and his marque products by telling stories. While his journey from crunching numbers to pressing sugarcanes is sprouted with fascinating anecdotes, he prefers to share tales of 1,000-year-old Polynesian cultivars that help establish an exclusive sense of place, all through the captivating voices of his rhum agricoles.