Aina Pono

‘Aina Pono is a State of Hawaii Department of Education farm-to-school cooperative that aims to create a locally-sustainable supply and demand loop where local farmers provide healthy and nutritious food to public school cafeterias feeding students in Hawaii.

The Challenge

As a true public-private partnership dependent on continued external funding, the program needed a strong brand to establish a foothold of legitimacy and credibility in the eyes of its stakeholders.

The BLG Difference

Blackletter Group was brought in to help craft a brand representative of the mission, vision and values of the program. A new program name, ‘Aina Pono (deriving from the Hawaiian words ‘aina, referring to eating or meal, and pono meaning righteousness) was adopted to symbolically unite the local farmers and public schools participating in the program. Along with the new overarching brand identity, a new logo, visual identity and website was created to lend credibility and raise awareness. Today, ‘Aina Pono remains self-sustaining through the generous support of private benefactors and State funding.