Made in Hawaii event draws thousands
By Allison Schaefers
Advertiser Staff Writer
Like many who attended the First Hawaiian Bank's 2003 Made in Hawaii Festival over the weekend, Marcus G. Marcos, a small business owner from Kaimuki, found a way to combine business with pleasure.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
Marcos, who plans to open Diamond Head Cove Health, a small smoothie and health-related products store on Monsarrat Avenue in September, spent nearly five hours searching for health-related products he could stock on his shelves. Then he stretched out on a padded bench and treated himself to a massage.
Diane Van Trees, of Waikiki, checks out a hat made by Hats by Emi at the First Hawaiian Bank's 2003 Made in Hawaii Festival at the Neal Blaisdell Center. More than 400 companies had their locally produced goods on display.
As his work tensions melted away under the hands of the masseuse, Marcos closed his eyes, and visions of the Spirulina, noni and lomi lomi massage sticks exhibited at the festival danced in his head.
"I came here especially to find products for my new business," Marcos said. "I'd like to incorporate Hawai'i trade products to promote the local economy and to promote health."
More than 35,000 people, many of them small business owners like Marcos, came to the three-day festival to shop or to market their trade, said Ed Thompson, executive director of the Hawai'i Food Industry Association, a festival sponsor.
The Hawai'i Food Industry Association, a nonprofit trade association for Hawai'i's retailers and suppliers of food and related items, produces the festival each year, mainly to help the state's small businesses, Thompson said.
"By helping the small businesses be successful it builds up our economy," Thompson said. "Money spent here stays here in Hawai'i."
It was a record turnout at the festival with the largest number of vendors, 410, and the largest crowds since the event began in 1996, Thompson said.
Swarms of people came to the festival to check out an array of products ranging from island agriculture to traditional Hawaiian items such as leis, puka shell necklaces and koa wood rice scoops; gourmet foods such as mango curd, kalbi barbecue sauce and poi ball mix; bath and beauty products made of island plants; brightly colored island-style clothing and jewelry; and a variety of fine art from local artists.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
As people walked from booth to booth they sampled foods, examined wares and watched cooking and product demonstrations. It was clear that they liked what they saw, and in many cases, liked it enough to take it home, Thompson said.
Sandy Abe, center, of Tokyo, and her mom, Doris Abe of Nu'uanu, shop for plants at the O'ahu Nursery Growers Association at the Made in Hawaii Festival held over the weekend. More than 35,000 people turned out for the fair.
"It seems like the consumers were here to buy," Thompson said. "If the products were priced right they sold quick. Many vendors, such as Kaua'i Cookies and Maui Brand Natural Cane Sugars, said they sold out well before yesterday afternoon.
"We brought 25 percent more product than we did last year and sold out four hours earlier," said Martin R. Amaro, who represents Hawai'i sales and marketing for Kaua'i Coffee Company and Maui Brand Natural Cane Sugars. "It was a great show and people were just buying more this year."
People were also sampling. Jean Ewart, the owner of Coldstone Creamery at Ward Center, said she gave out 17,000 ice-cream samples and coupons at the festival. Ewart said she knows the $500 she spent on her booth was a good investment. By Saturday, customers were visiting Ewart's Ward Avenue store to use their coupons.
"We couldn't reach this many people for that price anywhere else," Ewart said.
Janis Tanga, owner of Tanga Co., a small family owned Mililani-based business that sells specialty poi, sweet potato and yam ball mixes, and seasoned salts, said the company depends on trade shows and craft shows to market their secret family recipes.
They prepared 22 gallons worth of fried poi balls and gave them to passers-by to help market their main product, Tanga said.
"We depend a lot on word of mouth. Once people taste our products they're hooked," Tanga said. "We have a lot of people who come to these events looking for us."
And some people, such as Carol Eblen, an attorney with Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel, just went to the festival for fun. Eblen, who lives in Makiki, and her daughter, Wendy Sherwood, and granddaughter Amy Sherwood, who were visiting from Sydney, Australia, spent most of the day trying on hats and jewelry and sampling unique Hawaiian products.
"I always love to come to the fairs to see what's being produced in Hawai'i. We have so many unique items to share with the rest of the world," Eblen said.
Reach Allison Schaefers at aschaefers@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8110.
