STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2760

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3302

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 3302, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOMEMADE FOOD PRODUCTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Department of Health to adopt rules to regulate farm kitchens in the same manner as home kitchens producing homemade food products.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Hawaii Farm Bureau, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, Hawaii Farmers Union, and four individuals.

Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

Your Committee finds that homemade food product operations provide important opportunities for small-scale food producers to participate in local food systems while maintaining public health protections. Your Committee further finds that the Department of Health in 2025 adopted administrative rules clarifying food safety, labeling, and operational standards for home kitchens and homemade food products. Your Committee notes that many small farms similarly prepare value-added food products in farm kitchens, and that these farms often face regulatory uncertainty despite posing comparable or lower public health risks than homemade food product operations. Accordingly, your Committee finds that this measure will provide regulatory clarity for farm kitchens and improve consistency in the Hawaii Administrative Rules.

Should a Committee in the House of Representatives hear this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that it consider the suggested amendment in the Department of Health's written comments. The Department requested that the term "homemade" be inserted before "food products" in the definition of "farm kitchen," as follows:

"Farm kitchen" means a kitchen located on agricultural land, including land zoned for agricultural use or land actively used in agricultural production, in which homemade food products are prepared using ingredients that may include agricultural products grown or raised on the same farm.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3302, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair