Aloha! We're a small family business based in Kona, Hawaii. Mom is a registered nurse and Dad is a science teacher with a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences. We believe wellness, for ourselves, our community, and our Earth starts with the everyday decisions we make at home. We think products that are simple, natural, and local whenever possible are best!
Origins of Happy Fats
This belief led us to start rendering our own tallow from island cows. Once we started cooking with it, we were sold. Tallow adds a rich flavor that's hard to beat, and it gives our picky kids some much needed fats beyond the seed oils that sneak into nearly everything on store shelves. Before long we started experimenting with tallow-based skin products too, and after using our own for over a year, our skin has never felt better. We love knowing there are no unfamiliar ingredients in what we are putting on our and our baby’s skin. As a bonus, our tallow-based products help create demand for a part of the animal that's usually thrown away during processing. Using more of the animal while making useful products at the same time feels like a genuine win-win.
Beginnings of Canoots
Our appreciation for Hawaiian plants goes back many years to our college days on Oʻahu. From first learning and being fascinated by the story about “canoe crops”, to our first attempt at cooking a fresh-picked ‘ulu (breadfruit), to an undergraduate research project evaluating the effect of fresh noni extracts on antibody production, using noni fruits picked from the yard. We've often wondered why traditional Polynesian staple crops are relatively absent from modern diets in Hawai’i, despite being foods that are culturally significant, nutrient-dense, and having a proven track record of helping fuel the original human settlement of the Pacific.
After years occasionally experimenting with cooking fresh ʻulu, sweet potato (ʻuala), taro (kalo), ginger (ʻawapuhi), turmeric (ʻōlena) with our own meals at home, we set out to create a wholesome snack that brings together as many of the Polynesian canoe crops as possible. The thinking was if it is convenient and easy to eat, we would eat these nourishing foods more often. Including noni was important, but it presented a challenge because of its pungent smell and taste (IYKYK). Taste-wise, we knew we were on the right track when our thirteen-year-old would regularly eat some completely on his own, and conceptually, when we started eating Canoots during long workouts. Great as a snack anytime, we've found Canoots to especially shine on long runs and bike rides, and they have become a constant in our training for marathons, Ironman 70.3 triathlons, and even sea-to-summit rides up Mauna Kea and Haleakalā.
Mahalo!
Thank you for taking the time to get to know us a little better! Every product we make is carefully crafted in small batches. The result of countless experiments, plenty of failures, a few successes, and many happy moments along the way.
