ULU CHIPS GAIN IN POPULARITY
It only took a couple of months to get a lot of people hooked on ‘Ulu Mana’s breadfruit chips.
And then the chips went away.
They were introduced in a trial run last November and were only available until January. Once the breadfruit season ended, so did sales of the chips.
But now they’re back. The chips returned to stores and farmers markets in July, with a promise to stick around.
‘Ulu Mana has figured out how to bag the chips so they can be sold all year, owner Loren Shoop said. That new packaging debuts at the Made in Hawaii Festival this weekend.
Shoop got into the ulu biz in 2017 when he introduced a colorful line of hummus in flavors of turmeric, sweet potato, beet and jalapeno.
The hummus can be made all year from ulu that is cooked and frozen, but the chips require fresh breadfruit and can’t be produced in the off-season. The new packaging gives the chips a one-year shelf life, Shoop says, so they can be made in-season, then sold all year.
Both products are made in ‘Ulu Mana’s Iwilei kitchen, using breadfruit straight from Oahu farmers. “They come drop it off to us,” Shoop said. “Then we do everything — wash it, cut it and make it either into the hummus or into the ulu chips.”
He said the company will process more than 40,000 pounds of fruit a year.
The chips — garlic-salt, chili-lime and a mix with sweet potato chips — sell for about $6.50 a 3.5-ounce bag, the hummus for about $7 per 8-ounce tub. Find them at several farmers markets and stores such as Down to Earth, Kokua Market, Times and Foodland. A few restaurants sell the chips only. For a list of all sales outlets and information on ordering online or picking up directly at the factory, go to ulumanahawaii.com. Call 987-1284.
— Betty Shimabukuro, Star-Advertiser
KAILUA FARMERS MARKET NEEDS NEW HOME
After six years at Kailua Elementary School, the Sunday KailuaTown Farmers Market needs to relocate. Owner Pamela Boyar said she is seeking a new parking lot nearby to move her popular market, which can stay at the school only until the end of August.
Boyar, owner of FarmLovers Farmers’ Markets, is pursuing a couple of sites but said finding a new location before September is challenging.
The weekly market draws upward of 1,000 visitors, Boyar said, and has become a community gathering place.
Kailua Elementary Principal Allyson Doherty said she wishes the market well but that it is taking too big a toll on the campus and its custodial staff.
“Accommodating the farmers market on our campus has proved to be disruptive,” she said in a statement, citing concerns such as upkeep of bathrooms, grass areas and a parking lot, as well as concerns about vendors’ insurance.
“We value our role in the community and our community partnerships, but … hosting outside events goes beyond the primary educational mission of the Department of Education and our schools,” Doherty said.
Boyar said finding a new location is critical to the livelihood of 120 people connected with the market — farmers, value-added producers, artisans and more.
“It takes at least 60 days to grow a crop — the farmers are already planted. What are they supposed to do with all that product? Some of them will have nowhere to sell their products.”
To contact Boyar call 388-9696 or email alohafarmlovers@gmail.com.
— Joleen Oshiro, Star-Advertiser
