Hawaii-grown and made Malie Kai Chocolates Inc. will soon have its own retail store in the Royal Hawaiian Center in the heart of Waikiki.
Upon its July 16 opening on Level 1 in Building C, the company will unveil a new product — Hawaiian rum truffles — that will be available exclusively at the new shop.
“Yes,” said Malie Kai President Nathan Sato when asked whether the rum for the truffles was made locally. “Maui rum,” to be exact, though the wealth may spread to other local producers.
The company also will offer its signature chocolate bars in seven flavors at the store, which eventually will offer an eighth flavor, “but not for the opening,” he said.
The company started in 2004, primarily selling its line at farmers markets, and it still can be found at the Saturday morning Kapiolani Community College market. When he discovered that cacao was being grown locally, “we knew that Hawaiian chocolate was our future. … We stopped making products that didn’t have Hawaiian chocolate,” Sato said.
Sato is a founding member of the Hawaiian Chocolate and Cacao Association, an industry group comprising chocolate makers, cacao farmers, retailers and others who are trying to promote the product.
The Malie Kai bars are available at dozens of retail stores around the state, both in Waikiki and in communities on all the major islands, all of which are listed on the company website.
The new store will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
HILO-MADE AT THE HYATT
The Kukui Coconut Creme Lotion used by massage practitioners at the Na Ho‘ola Spa at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa is a Hawaii-made product that spa guests can buy to use at home and almost relive their experience overlooking Waikiki.
It is a private-label product made exclusively for the Hyatt by Hilo-based Hawaiian Body Products LLC.
The fragrance is not overpowering, flowery or perfumey, said Spa Director Yoshimi Anderson.
“It’s very subtle … and it’s unisex,” so it works for men as well as women, she said. “It also has a very authentic smell to it, like you’re in nature,” she said.
The lotion has proved superior to oils during massages, she said, “because it’s more hydrating” than oils and “soaks in (to the skin) very quickly.”
Pump-top, 8.3-ounce bottles sell for $30 exclusively at the spa.
Hawaiian Body Products’ full line of publicly available products in about 17 categories, including its Ola line, range from bath items to massage oils, body butters and more, and can be purchased online and at select isle retailers.
What is not yet online, partly because the company website is pending an overhaul, is its — gasp — maile-scented products.
Plumeria, tuberose and other, similar fragrances are popular and are made by many companies, but finding maile-scented anything, including actual local maile itself, is pretty rare.
“It’s a difficult scent,” said Sales Manager Robin Williams (not the Mork and Mindy star). It took about a year of experimentation to get the fragrance close to what they feel is right.
The fragrance includes hints of iliahi, or sandalwood, and others have told her it is reminiscent of lauae fern as well as mokihana, (Melicope anisata), she said.
“Most of the maile they sell on Oahu is from the Cook Islands … and while it looks really pretty, it doesn’t have the spirit and the essence” of Big Island maile, said Williams.
The list of stores where the products can be found is pending that website overhaul, but the locations include Blue Hawaii Surf at Ala Moana Center, Cinnamon Girl stores, Global Village in Kailua and the spas at Halekulani in Waikiki and the Aulani resort in Kapolei.
Its fragrant and unscented body and hair care products start at $2 for lomi stones from the beach (an important distinction from volcanic origin) to lip balms, fragrance sticks and 6-ounce jars of various body butters for $24, up to a 16-ounce set of coconut lemongrass shampoo and conditioner for $40.
If you’re not into slathering on skin care products, Hawaiian Body Products also sells fragrant kukui candles made from coconut wax and kukui nut oil, from $10.20 to $12; room and linen sprays from $14.45; and reed diffusers starting at $21.25.
Gift sets also are offered in various price ranges.
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“Buy Local” runs on Alooha Fridays. Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
