Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut

Love this place, plenty of samples and there prices are pretty comparable with the other stores. It was so nice we went twice. The sample lady was really nice, and let us try all the flavors.

A nice pit stop, but definitely not an attraction to go out of the way for. The tour is a joke. It’s about 50 feet of windows into their factory. The windows were hazy and you can’t see much. The self guided tour is two short videos. All rather pointless and not super exciting. The ice cream is good. Nothing special though. Tastes like ice cream with macadamia nuts. I wouldn’t bother stopping unless you had a half hour to kill. The day we were there, it was rather noisy too. A motor was constantly running from the factory.
And the samples were a disappointment. It was a single table with a cranky employee with a spoon. My wife said she’d like to try them all, and the lady ignored the request and would only grab one after we asked for each. It wasn’t busy at the time, but she acted super inconvenienced to help us.
Overall, a disappointment. But a nice quick pit stop since it is free.

Passing through a forest… Hem. A plantation of macadamia trees, you arrive at the famous nuts factory. You can taste a bit of each flavor of macadamia nuts (lightly salted, wasabi, onion-​coated, caramelized Kona coffee, chocolate…). I also ate a tuna sandwich and had a macadamia (yes, again).
Verdict: okay sandwich, great ice cream, nuts slightly more expensive than at Walmart (surprising for a factory store).

After reading the reviews I was skeptical. But I have been on a few factory tours before so I knew what I was getting in too.
Pleasantly surprised!!! Macadamia Nuts were cheaper here than any where!

It’s exciting to see how the magic happens behind the Mauna Loa nut! There are free tastings, a gift shop, and a self-​guided tour of the factory. It’s a good place to go if you want to kill some time before dinner. However, don’t make this place your top priority if you’re in Hilo. Sadly, you can get the same items at Long’s for cheaper.

I was not impressed with the attraction. The so called factory tour was simply walking up a lot of steps to platform and walking along where you looked inside windows at what very little fork work was going on. Then we went inside to the gift shop. We were met by an employee who offered us samples of the boxed chocolates. They were delicious. Then if you want to try the other products you have to stand in a line to get a sample. Their products are very good but, i believe they are overpriced. They are priced less at local stores. Since the heat was overwhelming we decided to wait to buy any chocolate products. If you are not on a tour I would skip this stop.

Great place to buy Macadamia trees for your yard. Only $ 10 a tree for a big one!
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Ok but not great… prices are similar as to what you pay other places so don’t go out of your way to visit. Staff were almost frustrated to have to deal with you.

Was very nice store but disappointed with sample process. Didn’t give time to enjoy 1^st sample before giving you next. Like throwing crumbs to the birds as fast as they could. Tour: very hard to see through the glass.

I can’t believe how many people are throwing their money at this place. Their nuts were way too expensive. I thought they would be cheaper due to straight out of their factory, however, it’s the opposite. This place targets tourists from cruises. You can get the same thing at Target for less the cost. Their self tour was horrible. The windows were all fogged up and can’t see the factory. Even if you can see inside, no one was working. I won’t tell you to skip this because it’s part of Big Island, however, try not to waste your money on their nuts.

I was not impressed with the moana loa factory. I had been there before, and this time had hopes for the self factory tour to be active. I love the huge signage by the store and on the building itself.
We went up the steps reading the signs of how moana loa company makes, packages and ships their products. The screens were out of order and looking through the glass there was no one at work. It literally looked like a closed down factory. You Basically have to use your own imagination like Charlie and the chocolate factory;)
My sweetie and I stepped inside the store and was engulfed with a sweet aroma. I believe the smell was coming from something that was baked that day. I did remember that the prices were ridiculously high for small bags of chocolate.
There was an array of chocolate dipped macadamia nut souvenirs, cookies, and sample tasting of various flavors. Everywhere you turned there was something to buy. On one side of the store sold local Hawaiian lotion and soaps. There was also a section from Maui divers jewelry:) Hershey kisses has their limited edition filled with the infamous nut only sold on the island. I saw a couple stock up.
We stepped out to grab some ice cream. I had a scoop of vanilla macadamia nut over the chocolate. It was cooling, sweet, and creamy. We then took a stroll into the garden where it was quiet from all the hustle and bustle in the store. I have to admit this was the only moment which was enjoyable.

I expected more: the self-​guided tour it just walking along some windows and looking into the factory. Otherwise is it just a store where you can buy all their products. They give away free samples and the different nuts taste all good. But it is more a store than a point of interest.

Didn’t really have high expectations after reading the Unilocal reviews, but the tour wasn’t very useful. Most of it was closed when we stopped by, the workers who see you will wave :) The gift stop has samples on all the variety and the pricing is comparable to other distributors on sale! I would recommend coming in to try them :)

My friends and I were excited to see the macadamia nut factory in action but unfortunately we came during their off season. The production was kind of at a stand still, we saw some conveyor belt action at the assembly line but not much.
We got to sample many of their different flavored macadamia nuts inside the shop, but I was hoping to taste them right off the conveyor belt so that was kind of disappointing. I have to say out of all the many flavors they had I liked the plain macadamia nuts. They had onion, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, honey roasted flavors to chose from.
I really loved their brownie Lava macadamia nut, it was nice and crunchy. I also bought small sample baggies of different macadamia nut flavors to bring back as souvenirs, they have a variety of big and small gift baskets to choose from so that was really nice. It made souvenir shopping a lot easier.

Being that this is a world famous brand and that it is owned by Hershey, one would expect something of substance. Not the case. This was the chamber of farts. We went on a Saturday. Apparently the factory isn’t operational on Saturdays. That would have been helpful to know. That factory tour is only looking through a few windows into the assembly line with tv videos. Half of the tvs didnt work even! The gift shop was open. The ladies were very nice. There is not much you can’t get anywhere else. The 3 mile tour of the farms is the drive way leading to the factory and there are ‘no stopping, standing or parking’ signs on the road. So much for that. Just save your time and tour elsewhere. Wish we hadn’t wasted the time.

The visitor center here is nowhere nearly as nice as the other ones that we’ve visited (such as Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company).
I’m not sure if it’s the bus loads of uncouth tourists from China or if it’s the way that the workers here dole out the samples like they’re handing treats to their dogs. But there’s just something very ghetto about this place.

The only thing good was the free samples, but it was handing your dog a treat.
The self tour was pathetic.
Bathrooms were clean.
Overall it wasn’t worth it.

This is probably my last visit here. I used to live in Hilo when the experience was much nicer. I guess since they were bought out the bottom line is more portent than quality. Prices are decent although can find better prices elsewhere. It really is all about spending here as the self guided tour isn’t anything to write home about. We indulged in mac nut ice cream only to realize they use an inferior ice cream to add the nuts to. We have had much much better mac nut ice cream on the mainland. It should be of the highest quality since Mac nuts are their business.

Ya, nothing to write home about, pretty much a waste of time for me that is. We got there late in the afternoon and although you can take a self guided tour via a looking glass at the factory it was just OK.
The gift shop you can buy a variety of Mac Nuts although cheaper at Costco. The variety at the gift shop is better than at Costco. You can sample nuts with their many flavours to secure the taste you want to savour.
For me this was just OK and blah, but I would suggest to try it out for yourself if in the area.

Even though the factory processing line was closed when I arrived here, I could still see the idle machinery used to process the nuts and turn them into delectable treats, and, best of all, there were Macadamia Nut goods in more abundance than one will find anywhere else, including ABC Stores, and free samples were handed out of several types of products, including Milk Chocolate-​covered Macadamias and Dark Chocolate-​covered Macadamias. Hardly a better pairing could be constructed than melted chocolate draping over and entirely covering a large rounded Macadamia Nut.
Weakened by the sublime taste of the samples, we forked over just under $ 30 for delicious Macadamia Nut products, and left the visitor center store hoisting a tin of Milk Chocolate Macadamias, a box of Milk Chocolate-​covered Macadamia Mountains, and a 25-oz.bag of randomly shaped Dry Roasted Macadamias sprinkled with sea salt that, even after being nibbled upon daily, lasted through 10 more days of cruising and 4 additional days back in the Las Vegas valley, with over half of the bag’s contents still intact.
As a bonus for Diane, she also left the Mauna Loa premises clutching a gold pendant inset with a nice-​sized purple-​shaded Black Pearl that was extracted in our presence from an opened oyster shell that I selected at the Maui Divers of Hawaii counter, which is also located inside the Mauna Loa visitor center.
A haul of newly acquired Macadamia Nut products and jewelry: a win for both of us!