Hawaii Banana Source is a 35 acre USDA Certified Organic farm on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii operated by me,  Gabriel Sachter-Smith.  We specialize in bananas and maintain around 150 varieties at any given time, but focus on commercial fruit production of Apple, Namwah, Gros Michel, Saba and Iholena. In addition to growing fruit and maintaining varieties, we are also engaged in breeding our own speciality varieties via conventional cross pollination techniques. 

​

I have studied bananas independently since I was 14 years old starting in 2004 in Colorado where I grew them as houseplants. Colorado was a bit too cold for bananas, so I moved to the tropics for college to study bananas at the University of Hawaii, where I received my BS in Tropical Plant and Soil Science, and my MS studying Banana bunchy top virus and exploring new varieties for farmers in Hawaii. When I'm not growing bananas, I study them, and have participated in field expeditions and projects in China, Indonesia, Uganda, Rwanda, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Samoa and even Belgium, Finland, England and France, all to study bananas. I am interested in all aspects of bananas, but am most curious about banana diversity, and the many fascinating forms they come in.

​

​