Hawaii: In Real Life ~ Kokua Market

Did you know that Kokua Market is 40 years old already? That’s right, the people who started Kokua Market were rocking the natural foods movement long before any of you were even born.

In 1970, a group of Honolulu residents who wanted access to quality, minimally processed, natural foods began exploring the idea of starting a co-op. In simpler terms, a co-op is like a hui, where a group pools their resources and creates a company so they can leverage their buying power. They couldn’t buy in massive bulk like the large supermarkets, but they could buy at a level that enabled them to get such specialty foods from the mainland at a better price than if they bought as individuals.

In the old days, only volunteer workers/owners could purchase items at the store. Today, anyone can shop at Kokua Market and enjoy the items they provide to the community. They even have a deli, which sells freshly-made hot and cold items made with mostly-organic ingredients from their market, including raw, vegan, macrobiotic and (antibiotic- and hormone-free) meat selections.

They’re having a tweetup this Saturday, June 11 to celebrate their 40th anniversary, so I stopped in to check out the deli and learn more about the store from Rachael Wong.

Kyle also showed me their bulk ingredient area and talked about their produce, which you can see on HawaiiIRL.com.

Hope to see you this Saturday!