A big-time national collaboration between local chef Mark “Gooch” Noguchi and the Kraft Heinz Co. has added to the company’s line of state-inspired barbecue sauces.

Heinz BBQ Sauce Hawaii Sweet & Smoky has taken its place alongside Texas Bold & Spicy, Carolina Tangy Vinegar, Kansas City Sweet & Spicy and other barbecue sauces at stores across the country, and Heinz has told Noguchi it is the No. 3 best-seller in the line.

Kraft Heinz Co. tracked down Noguchi, wanting to work with him on its line of pitmaster-crafted sauces.

“I’m flattered but I’m not a pitmaster,” he told them, explaining that barbecue in Hawaii isn’t like barbecue on the mainland.

“Our pulehu is different,” he told them.

“I’m pretty straightforward about who we are as a people and how we cook, and defining what is Hawaiian and what is not,” he said.

Undeterred, the company told him, “We would like you to be our Hawaii guy,” so he and the company created a distinctive sauce. His picture and signature appear on the bottle, and he advised them on the design of the label. The proposed blaringly bright pineapple was significantly toned down, for instance.

“The pineapple is a perpetuation of the colonistic view of Hawaii,” he instructed. “We’re here to dispel stereotypes.”

Also, he got assurances there would be no high-fructose corn syrup in the sauce. The listed ingredients are easy to pronounce.

“I did a bunch of homework, and I came up with six different sauces I felt were a good representation of Hawaii, of the flavors we use when we pulehu,” Noguchi said.

The project took almost two years, and as he regularly does, he consulted with Hawaiian scholars along the way.

In addition to inspiration and influence from his mother, Eleanor Noguchi, the chef said he was driven to create the sauce to promote cultural awareness. He credited his formative time dancing in Halau o Kekuhi in Hilo with cultivating that value for Hawaiian culture.

Heinz BBQ Sauce Hawaii Sweet & Smoky is available at Foodland Super Market, Longs Drugs, Safeway, Target and Walmart. Visit heinzbbq.com.

KIKKOMAN HONORS HAWAII

It’s not every day an international corporation creates special packaging just for one market. But Asian food giant Kikkoman, and its distribution subsidiary JFC International Inc., have done just that for Hawaii with soy sauce packets featuring Diamond Head and palm trees against a gradient blue background.

Kikkoman’s familiar red packets still dominate the overall U.S. market, but the Hawaii-themed version is in isle restaurants, said Wade Nakai, Honolulu-based sales representative for JFC.

“If you go to Jack in the Box and get a Portuguese sausage breakfast, you’ll get a Hawaii, Diamond Head shoyu packet,” he said.

Kokoro-Tei in Moiliili also provides the Hawaii-themed packets on request with bento purchases, and the item is pre-packed in grab-and-go bentos at the new Mitsuwa Marketplace at the International Market Place in Waikiki.

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