Contact:
Virginia Kanakanui, Marketing Director
Truly Hawaiian, LLC
5710-K High Point Road, #165
Greensboro, NC 27407
Virginia@TrulyHawaiian.com
Phone: 800-928-4196

Hawaiian Teriyaki Burger Wins Prize for TFM customer from Asheville, NC

The Fresh Market recently completed its first ever Recipe Challenge and received over 250 submissions from its customers. The rules of the contest were simple: prepare a recipe using three of The Fresh Market’s private label products.

The top prize, Hawaiian Teriyaki Burger, was submitted by a lucky customer from Asheville, NC. Her winning recipe, which uses Truly Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce, Anything Goes Spice Rub, and Panko Bread Crumbs, can be found online at www.TheFreshMarket.com.

“We’re thrilled to have Truly Hawaiian sauce featured in this winning recipe,” says Virginia Kanakanui, Marketing Director for Truly Hawaiian. “We have used Truly Hawaiian in many different ways over the years, and to have someone come up with a new recipe using our product is truly exciting. And the recipe tastes fantastic, too!”

Truly Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce is an original Hawaiian family favorite recipe passed down for over 100 years in the Kanakanui Family. After sharing the sauce with family and friends to mark special occasions for many, many years, the Kanakanui Family launched Truly Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce in 2008. Recommended as a marinade for steak, chicken, pork or ribs, the sauce can also be used as a gravy and poured directly onto already cooked food—grilled fish, stir-fry vegetables, tofu, or rice. Other recipes can be found at the Truly Hawaiian website, www.TrulyHawaiian.com.

Contact:
Virginia Kanakanui, Marketing Director
Truly Hawaiian, LLC
5710-K High Point Road, #165
Greensboro, NC  27407
Virginia@TrulyHawaiian.com
Phone: 800-928-4196

Family recipe for more than 100 years to be carried in more than 90 The Fresh Market stores.

Truly Hawaiian, a Greensboro, NC—based company, is bringing its first product to market through an agreement with The Fresh Market. A new teriyaki sauce, based on a Truly Hawaiian family recipe that’s more than 100 years old, will be private labeled for The Fresh Market as Truly Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce and will sold in all 92 The Fresh Market stores.

Truly Hawaiian, LLC, is the brainchild of four siblings in the Kanakanui family who learned the recipe from their father and grandfather. Sam and Virginia Kanakanui have spearheaded the movement on behalf of the family to launch Truly Hawaiian. “We had been giving the sauce away as gifts for years and years,” says Sam Kanakanui. “And people would always come back and say, ‘Oh, let us know if you ever decide to bottle this, because I want to be your first customer!’ Finally, in late 2008, we started seriously considering marketing our family recipe.”

The family recipe for Truly Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce has its roots in neighborhood gatherings in Honolulu in the early 1900s. Honolulu was an amalgam of different cultures and flavors at this time and under the shadow of Diamond Head, a mile from Waikiki Beach, a small neighborhood had regular “block parties” where the “ohana” (Hawaiian for families) would come together and share food, fellowship, and fun.

William A. “Bill” Kanakanui, who sometimes hosted music sing-a-longs at his home, was a regular contributor to the block parties. His special recipe for teriyaki sauce, handed down from his father, was a popular choice for marinating steak, chicken, and ribs. When cooked on a grill, the sauce would caramelize and provide a distinct smoky, yet sweet, flavor – “ono ono!”  (Hawaiian for absolutely delicious.)

Bill’s youngest son, Richard, took the recipe with him as he made his way to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.  Later, as he courted a girl in West Virginia, Richard introduced the recipe to his future in-laws and extended family. When asked if the West Virginians thought the sauce was “exotic,” Richard replied, “No, they just thought it was good!”
There were four Kanakanui children born to Richard and his wife, Judy. Photographs from the early 60s show the children enjoying teriyaki spareribs as prepared by their father.  As the children grew up and created their own lives from California to West Virginia and North Carolina, they all impressed their friends with this special family teriyaki recipe.  Spareribs in Los Angeles, steaks in West Virginia, chicken and ribs in North Carolina—and one of the constant comments was, “Wow, this sauce is great —why don’t you bottle it? I could drink it straight from the bottle!”

Truly Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce will be available on The Fresh Market shelves beginning September 19th, 2009.
The sauce is recommended as a marinade for steak, chicken, pork or ribs. It can also be used as a glaze and  poured directly onto already cooked food—grilled fish, stir-fry vegetables, tofu, or rice. Other recipes can be found at the Truly Hawaiian website, www.TrulyHawaiian.com.

The park itself is over 560 square miles, extending from the shores of the ocean to the rim of Mauna Loa itself. There are literally miles of hiking trails and dozens of different places to camp. Unlike shows you may have seen, eruption conditions of the volcanoes don’t change too quickly; geologists are on top of changes and likely changes. Unsafe areas are cordoned off and patrolled, so you won’t get into trouble if you stay within the boundaries and pay attention to park guidelines.

Because, for some reason, there are ALWAYS people who think they are above these rules, we are going to stress them again. Although the volcanoes are fairly predictable, they are far from safe. The eruptions of Kilauea emit poisonous vapor which can kill quickly. Pockets of pressure may explode suddenly and without warning, posing dangers to anyone above them. Even the water can be unsafe, at boiling temperatures and filled with toxins. So, obey the rules.

If you can follow directions, there is an incredible time to be had. You can take walks such as the short Sulphur Springs hike to warm up, before tackling the three or four hour trip tour of the caldera. Make sure to stop and look longingly down the Chain of Craters. This road is evidence of the ever shifting moods of Kilauea. It was open to the public back in 2008, only to close when vents began to open and emit the aforementioned toxic fumes in March of that year. Its closure is a huge disappointment to anyone who had the opportunity to walk this road in past years, a chance which may never come around in our lifetimes again!

Be sure to check out the Visitor’s Center at the end of your hiking tour, for all the science and natural history of Hawaii that you could want. As night falls, make your way down to the viewing points by the ocean. This is the best time to get a clear look at the lava as it spills and splashes into the water below.

Today, breaking rules in Hawaii does not often lead to such extreme consequences! But there are still many rules that visitors in particular should follow. We’re not talking about the usual rules of society either, but rules in place to preserve the very nature of this paradise which so many have come to love. Here are some things to keep in mind as you take in the many sights the state has to offer.

• Don’t feed fish, unless you are going to eat them: Snorkelers are often tempted to feed fish in order to attract more of them, but this results in unnatural behavior. It can even wipe out entire populations!

• Don’t take lava: It can be incredibly tempting to swipe a piece of lava rock out of the national park. It’s beautiful and it’s unusual, but give into the temptation and Pele (goddess of the volcano) will curse you. If that doesn’t scare you, consider how much of Hawaii would remain if everyone were to fill their pockets with lava rock every year. Odds are you will lose it anyway; why not just leave it for everyone to enjoy?

• Don’t take shells! The same rule applies to remains of life from the ocean. It can seem like there are shells enough, but again, they are the result of years of painstaking work by nature. Shells are recycled by smaller animals, and removing them does damage to the ecosystem.

• Be careful of reefs: Coral reefs are both sensitive and fragile. Don’t stand on them, and be mindful of where your feet are kicking as you swim.

• Pay attention to beach signs: There are a few areas on the sands of Hawaii where sea turtles breed and lay their eggs. Pay attention to signs, or you may be causing further problems for this endangered animal!

Cook it yourself!

Many people make sure to pay for hotel rooms with kitchenettes or rent condos for their vacation accommodation. This means you can cook your own meals, only eating out when you choose to do so.

Buy from your friendly Big Box store

Recently, both Wal Mart and Costco have opened up stores in Kona on the Big Island. These are big cash savers for vacationers who followed our first tip above. Buy the teriyaki sauce you need for your chicken, fresh-off-the-boat seafood, and breakfast cereal, for the same prices you would at home!

Catch it yourself!

There is a lot of food swimming around the islands of Hawaii; you just have to get hold of it, literally. The best way to do this is to befriend some locals.  It’s a tricky process, but remember that almost everyone now living in Hawaii was a visitor at some point, just like you. Many of these are willing to help you out.

Befriending locals helps because you can avoid the exorbitant costs of chartering a boat for a fishing trip. Such charters can run you from $400 to $1000 for a day of fishing, without any guarantees of a catch. There are no regulations on seasons or catches in the waters around the Hawaiian Islands, so locals may fit your needs just as well.

And there are lots of tasty offerings to be had for the lucky angler. Ono are so good, their name literally means “delicious”. There are also ahi tuna, salmon, and several other species which will taste great fried up in the evening hours. Even barracuda, shark, or marlin tastes good after spending some time in a teriyaki marinade.

Avoid the bite out of your budget that eating out will take by paying heed to these three cheap eats tips!

First, while they were able to use the brands we were used to for some ingredients, for other ingredients they were not.  If you’ve done much cooking with spices, you probably know that they differ slightly from brand to brand.  Next time you are at the store, compare cinnamon or garlic powder from different brands.  You may notice that they have a slightly different shade or a different granular consistency.  Using a teaspoon of either in a recipe, you might not notice a difference in taste.  But when you multiply that by 30,000, the difference becomes exaggerated and you notice a BIG taste difference.

This meant we would have to alter our kitchen recipe slightly in order to get the taste to match our homemade recipe that all our friends and family have come to know and love.  So, we would enlist those same friends and family to help us test each batch that came back from the co-packer.

Hmmm, free teriyaki samples?  They were lining up at our door to become part of our taste testing team!

It did take quite a few modifications and, with each iteration, a taste testing with our friends.  The formula was tweaked a little bit each time, but we finally got it where we wanted it.  It was a product we would be proud to call Truly Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce.

What’s more, it was a product my dad would be proud to serve his family and friends.  And that was important to us.

OK, so the formula was ready, we just needed an order to get started.  But how much would they order?  Would we start with our gallon size for the Meat and Seafood counter or our 12 oz retail bottle?  At our next meeting with The Fresh Market, that decision was made for us.

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Hawaii’s Big Island is one of the best destinations in the state, if only because it tends to attract the less rowdy tourist crowds. There are plenty of things to do on the island of Hawaii, and one way to take in some of the most important is a trip across the island, from Kona to Hilo. It’s a six hour drive, so you’ll want to stay overnight, but here is what you can expect.

• Varying landscapes: You will be amazed at just how many ecosystems can be contained on one island, all formed by two volcanoes. The Kona side is dry, and lava rock is the norm on the sides of the road here. As you take Saddle Road, you’ll notice things get a lot drier, with semi-arid conditions. On the descent, you’re suddenly in tropical rain forest. The volcanoes loom in the distance and you find yourself in the rainiest spot in the whole USA.

• A great city: Hilo is friendly, upbeat, and not nearly as expensive as other spots in the state. You’ll also find many of the people friendlier; they’re just happy you came in out of the rain.

• Not a lot of company: We don’t know whether most people fly or boat into Hilo. What we do know is that not a lot of them drive. The roads are virtually empty for most of the trip!

• Lots of animals: You will see a lot of animals on the drive, most of them not indigenous. It’s kind of fun to play spot the wild goat or pig, and wild turkeys are often seen as well. If you’re really lucky, you might catch sight of Hawaii’s national bird, the nene, although they are said to be quite rare.

• National Parks: There are at least two big state attractions on the Hilo side of the island. Both the Tsunami Center and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, in which Mauna Loa and Kilauea are located, are well worth the trip. Try visiting one on the day you get there, and the other on the day you head back.

We decided on Braswell’s Foods in Statesboro, GA.  They were the right size for us and could handle the smaller quantities we would need starting out.  When I say small quantities, I mean they would be making our sauce in 300 gallon batches.  That was a bit more than we were able to make in our kitchen!

Once we decided on Braswell’s we immediately begin the process of transferring our recipe that made about 30 ounces to their process that would make 300 gallons at a time.  So, just multiply each measurement, right?  Not so easy…

In my next post, we learn food math, and why multiplying a teaspoon by 30,000 just doesn’t work.

In fact, they agreed to co-brand the product.  We would enroll in their private label program, which generates many of The Fresh Market’s labeled products, but still carry our name on the bottle as well.  It is such a blessing to have this kind of exposure with such a prestigious store.  We are truly gracious for this great opportunity. (If you’re not familiar with The Fresh Market, I urge you to, at a minimum, visit their site and learn more about them.  Better yet, find a store near you and visit them for the total experience.)

And the news got even better.  As an added bonus from our cutting, we discovered that the Meat and Seafood department was interested in our sauce as their new teriyaki marinade.  This was a development we had not foreseen.  Basically, the butcher department superbly offers marinated meats, like chicken and steak, ready for purchase — for us it could mean chicken breasts and/ or kabobs. This meant we would need to produce the sauce in gallon-size containers in addition to our retail bottle.

So we had to start down a new path of learning how to produce and pack our sauce in gallon-size containers.  While we had toyed with the idea of somehow finding a kitchen and producing the sauce ourselves, it was becoming clear that it was time to find some help.  The next step was to begin looking for a “co-packer”, that is, someone who could take our recipe, mass produce it, and bottle and ship it to our new customer.

Let me tell you, that was quite a process….