Each of our neighbor islands is unique in its own way, and so are their omiyage, those gifts — usually food — you bring home to share with family and friends. Maui’s goodies range from manju, mochi and other baked goods, to chocolates and potato chips, guri guri, coffee and items made with lavender, to wine and sausages.
A few local favorites are highlighted in this story. Other omiyage and companies (listed in the boxed item on this page) will be highlighted in future Maui issues of the Herald.
HOME MAID BAKERY
Jeremy Kozuki and his wife Jeanette are carrying on the bakery business started in 1960 by Jeremy’s parents, Joseph and Monica Kozuki. They named the business Home Maid Bakery.
The bakery’s main retail outlet is located at 1005 Lower Main St. in Wailuku, where, according to the company’s website, they strive to “provide the best tasting products using the highest quality of raw ingredients with no added preservatives at the best possible price.”
The bakery is known for its crispy manju, which is a popular omiyage item, although its bakers can fill pretty much any order — from simple dinner rolls, to a multi-tier wedding cake. Home maid can also cater, from sandwiches to main dishes.
But the crispy manju is the bakery’s most popular omiyage. The delicate and flaky crust makes you feel like you’re eating a mini pie. Fillings include sweet azuki beans, apple, coconut, peach, pineapple, purple sweet potato, chocolate and peanut butter.
Gaining in popularity is Home Maid’s mochi with fillings such as sweet azuki beans, creamy peanut butter, chocolate and coconut. They also produce chichi dango mochi and butter mochi. The bakery’s newest omiyage item is its sweet bread, which is sold in both loaves and rounds.
Home maid’s ovens are kept busy every day, producing a wide variety of pastries. The Lower Main Street location even serves hot malasadas, which are available from 5-10 a.m. and again from 4-10 p.m. If you’re in a rush to catch your flight and need to pick up something fast, you can run in and grab a salad or a sandwich, even a bentö — and shave ice to cool off. If you want to call ahead to the Lower Main Street location, call (808) 244-7015.
The outlet location, known as Home Maid Bakery & Deli, is at 395 Dairy Rd. in Kahului and is open weekdays from 5 a.m.-5 p.m. The Deli offers salads, sandwiches, bentö and shave ice, along with their popular baked goods. If you want to call ahead to make sure they have what you want, the number is (808) 877-8779.
Jeremy’s parents would be proud to know that the bakery they started was presented the 1995 Mom & Pop Business Award from the Small Business Administration and that Home Maid was twice chosen Maui County Retailer of the Year — in 1996 and 2011 — by the Retail Merchants of Hawaii.
If you’re ‘ono for Home Maid Bakery’s manju and mochi, but can’t get to Maui, you may be able to get it at your local favorite retailer.
SAM SATO’S
Another favorite omiyage stop among both kama‘äina (locals) and visitors is Sam Sato’s, which is known for its manju and dry noodles.
The business was started in 1933 as a restaurant by Sam Sato and his mother, Mite Sato. Sam and his wife Gladys, a talented baker, eventually took it over and expanded it to include Gladys’ baked goods. Sam’s sisters, Mitsue Kubo and Takeko Inamasu helped to run the restaurant and bakery.
Sam and Gladys Sato have both passed on, but their legacy and business continues on through the third and fourth generations of Satos. Lynne Toma, the youngest of Sam’s and Gladys’ four daughters, runs the business with her husband Charles and son Kirk. Daughter Keri helps out when she is back home on Maui for a visit.
If you plan to bring back Sam Sato’s manju, you’ll have a choice of either azuki or lima beans. Also popular among omiyage hunters are Gladys’ turnovers, which are available in apple, peach, coconut, blueberry, pineapple, pineapple/coconut and pineapple/peach flavors.
Visitors also look forward to taking home Sam Sato’s dry noodles, which is their version of fried saimin. “We started making the dry noodles in the ’60s when my parents had a Chinese cook working for them, but it’s only been in the past few years that people have been taking them as omiyage,” Lynne wrote in an email.
These days at the restaurant, the most popular items are the dry noodles, saimin and hamburgers.
If you can’t make it to the Valley Isle to purchase Sam Sato’s treats in person, you can get at least the manju on O‘ahu at the next Shirokiya Island Fair, which will be held July 4-20.
Sam Sato’s restaurant is open Monday through Saturday, from 7 a.m.-2 pm. The bakery, located next door, is open from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Sam Sato’s is located at 1750 Wili Pa Lp. in Wailuku. Call (808) 244-7124.
KRISPY KREME DOUGNUTS
Krispy Kreme Doughnut lovers were ecstatic when word got out that Hawai‘i was finally getting a Krispy Kreme Doughtnut Shop — and Maui scored the shop, opening in Kahului in 2004. Prior to the opening of the shop, the only place to get the delicious Original Glazed® confection was by having someone bring it back for you from Las Vegas.
A short time later, but only for a limited time, O‘ahu residents were able to buy Krispy Kremes when Costco and Sam’s Club began selling the boxed varieties. Depending on the occasion, one could buy a whole box of Original Glazed®, or in the shapes such as hearts, footballs, stars, eggs and pumpkins — decorated with icing and sprinkles.
Every so often, you can still spot people carrying the iconic white, red and green fundraising boxes of Krispy Kreme, selling them on the street or in front of stores. But if you really need a Krispy Kreme fix, get your friends and family together and order in bulk. Thanks to a partnership with Mokulele Airlines, you can pick up your doughnuts at airport destinations where Mokulele flies.
If you want your Krispy Kremes as fresh as fresh can be, you’ll just have go to Maui and get them in person. The store is located at 433 Kele St. in Kahului.
Store hours, with drive-through service, are Sunday-Thursday, from 5 a.m.-10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, from 5 a.m.-11 p.m. Watch for the illuminated “Hot Doughnuts Now” sign, which lets people know when the doughnuts are being made. “Hot out of the oven” times are 5-9 a.m. and 5-7 p.m. Call (808) 893-0883.
