KOHO Continues to Elevate Chocolate to Exquisite New Levels

When Theresa Tuxhorn started as Hawaiian Host’s global marketing director in 2019, she had a flash of an idea to launch something fun and unexpected. That flourished into KOHO Chocolates, a line of locally produced, bean-to-bar confections in the Hawaiian Host chocolate family that won over chocophiles with its  luscious flavors and bright pops of color.

“While traveling through Europe, I would see all these really pretty colorful bonbons and thought that it would be great to play on Hawaiian flavors and ingredients to create a kind of luxury collection within Hawaiian Host,” says Tuxhorn, now KOHO’s managing director. “In the beginning, it was really just an idea, and an opportunity in the market. There are a lot of premium cookies in the Hawai‘i market but there weren’t any premium confections. No one was doing these.”

Working quickly (and during a global pandemic, no less), a team was assembled and KOHO came to life. In 2020, during the height of Covid lockdowns, Hawaiian Host soft launched a small, online collection of stunning gem-like bonbons—perfect little hand-painted domes of chocolate confections. Online sales took off, and so did plans to grow KOHO into its own brand. First, a pop-up shop at Ala Moana Center. Then, plans to go bigger and bigger.

The first pop-up provided data that convinced Hawaiian Host executives they were onto something: Locals loved the concept, and KOHO started generating serious buzz. In the few years since the high-end confectionary was created, KOHO is well on its way to becoming an exquisite success.

“While traveling through Europe, I would see all these really pretty colorful bonbons and thought that it would be great to play on Hawaiian flavors and ingredients.”  — Theresa Tuxhorn

With Hawaiian Host’s long history in Hawai‘i (it’s nearly 100 years old), it was important for KOHO Chocolates to be loyal to the company’s deep Island roots. As such, all the cacao for KOHO is locally grown and sourced, then processed in California, and sent back to the Hawaiian Host production center on O‘ahu. That’s where the actual bonbons are made and hand-painted in their signature modernist style: colorful chocolate canvases, painted with flecks of shimmer and shine. Bite-sized bliss in flavors like liliko‘i caramel, sea salt caramel, Kona coffee and macadamia praline. In addition to signature bonbons, KOHO also makes chocolate “Tablets,” thin and snappy bars of chocolate that are the more subtle version of the main character bonbons, as well as chocolate-covered macadamia nuts.

KOHO opened its first brick-and-mortar shop this year in the Outrigger Waikīkī, and recently partnered with Neiman Marcus and DFS Galleria (in Waikīkī and the Honolulu airport) to sell KOHO chocolates at their stores. And coming soon: A chocolate shop with a bakery and cafe that will also serve as KOHO’s new production facility. Customers will be able to watch the chocolatiers creating and painting the confections right on site. The flagship shop and confectionery is scheduled to open in Honolulu in November 2024.

“The word koho in Hawaiian means to choose, and we really take it to mean that we’re the connoisseurs of Hawai‘i, carefully selecting the best ingredients to put forward to the customer, Tuxhorn says.

KOHO Chocolates, Outrigger Waikīkī Beach Resort, 2335 Kalākaua Ave., (808) 966-8119, kohochocolates.com, @kohochocolates, open 10 a.m.-9 p.m. daily