NEWS RELEASE

Mana Up initiative gives Native Hawaiian businesses a boost

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Honolulu - (February 2, 2018) – Ten local businesses are taking the next step towards expansion as part of Mana Up, an island-based initiative which helps companies with roots in Hawai‘i entice a global audience with products that are grown or sourced locally.

Kamehameha Schools is Mana Up’s title sponsor, and six of the 10 businesses selected are Native Hawaiian-owned. The cohort includes:

• Hawaiian Pie Company founded by Jan and Joel Hori
• Hawaiian Rainbow Bees, a producer of Hawaiian honey founded by Malcolm and Mitsuko Yorkston
• Hawaiian Vanilla Company founded by Jim and Tracy Reddekopp
• Kunoa Cattle Company, a producer of local beef founded by Jack Beuttell and Bobby Farias
• Mamalani, a natural body product company founded by Mele Kalama-Kingma
• Manoa Chocolate founded by Dylan Butterbaugh
• Manulele Distillers, a farm-to-bottle, small-batch rum producer founded by Jason Brand and Robert Dawson
• Monkeypod Jam founded by Aletha Thomas
• The Tea Chest founded by Byron Goo, and
• Voyaging Foods, Hawaiian ancestral foods for a modern, healthy diet founded by Brynn Foster.

“Through the Mana Up accelerator program, Kamehameha Schools is able to help elevate Native Hawaiian businesses and their products by addressing challenges that are preventing them from growing,” said Stacy Clayton, executive strategy consultant in the KS Strategy & Innovation Division.

“We want to see Native Hawaiian businesses thrive and enter into larger markets here in Hawai‘i and around the world. This accelerator is important for our state’s economy and for Native Hawaiian entrepreneurs looking to start, grow and diversify their businesses. KS is excited to support Native Hawaiian businesses to operate at higher levels of revenue generation and give back to the lāhui.”

Mana Up is aimed at building Hawai‘i’s next 100 product companies earning $1 million or more annually. The 10 businesses in the cohort were selected from a pool of 85 applicants that earn annual revenues surpassing the program’s requirement of at least $100,000.

The 12-week accelerated Mana Up program is offered biannually and begins on January 17 with the goal of helping the included businesses scale-up for broader market expansion.

“Programs like Mana Up give us the support to further our business here at home in Hawai‘i and hopefully provide the opportunity to impact other Native Hawaiians in a positive way,” said Jan Hori of Hawaiian Pie Company. “Having resources that help us to achieve our goals brings forth a sense of pride and purpose in everything we try to accomplish as a business.”

The family-owned company happens to be a Kamehameha Schools tenant in Kapālama.

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Information and images assets for Native Hawaiian-owned businesses:

Hawaiian Pie Company, LLC
A family owned bakery in Honolulu, Hawaii that specializes in melt-in-your-mouth buttery fruit pies and baked goods.

Link to:

•  Hawaiian Pie Company Logo - https://goo.gl/ossSz2
•  Hawaiian Pie Company Product Image - https://goo.gl/taLF3t
•  Hawaiian Pie Company 1-pager - https://goo.gl/o9twkj

Hawaiian Vanilla Co
The Hawaiian Vanilla Co. is a boutique vanilla farm that creates over 60 different vanilla infused products.

Link to:

•  Hawaiian Vanilla Co Logo - https://goo.gl/t44Z9B
•  Hawaiian Vanilla Co Product Image - https://goo.gl/QMbxhL
•  Hawaiian Vanilla Co 1-pager - https://goo.gl/JxokjW

Kunoa Cattle Co

Kunoa is a sustainable Hawaii meat company. It manages a herd of several thousand cattle on Kauai, operates Hawaii’s largest meat packing facility, and sells fresh and value-added Hawaii meat products to retailers, food service, and direct to consumers.

Link to:

•  Kunoa Cattle Co Logo - https://goo.gl/EjpmMS
•  Kunoa Cattle Co Product Image - https://goo.gl/Uis2ZM
•  Kunoa Cattle Co 1-pager - https://goo.gl/h3NR3W

Mamalani, LLC

Mamalani is an Aloha-centered, Native Hawaiian made Natural Body Product company using local and organic ingredients in ‘āina friendly packaging. Go Native is Mamalani’s Natural Health and Beauty Subscription box featuring crafters, artisans and farmers from Hawaii.

Link to:

•  Mamalani Logo - https://goo.gl/JrHZVx
•  Mamalani Product Image - https://goo.gl/R9SvUK
•  Mamalani 1-pager - https://goo.gl/PBDkc5

The Tea Chest

Tea Chest is a tea company with a passion is for refined taste and a distinct sense of place. Our mission is to craft products that taste great and make people happy using natural, organic and sustainable ingredients so our products are “good for you and good for the planet.”

Link to:

•  Tea Chest Logo - https://goo.gl/k48Eth
•  Tea Chest Product Image - https://goo.gl/UBAHcw
•  Tea Chest 1-pager - https://goo.gl/qaAa8C

Voyaging Foods

Voyaging Foods bridges Hawaiian ancestral food and the modern healthy diet. We are a Hawaii-based company that is disrupting the alternative flour market by growing and manufacturing gluten and grain free powders from native Hawaiian canoe plants, the treasured heirloom plants of Polynesia.

Link to:

•  Voyaging Foods Logo - https://goo.gl/829eUb
•  Voyaging Foods Product Image - https://goo.gl/gVKr7E
• Voyaging Foods 1-pager - https://goo.gl/AXLMuT