Bake stand boom hits Hawaii
By Kristen Consillio
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KANEOHE, Hawaii (KITV) — Carter Cantiberos made a pit stop on his way to school to the Kukane St. Stand — the latest of its kind popping up in recent months across the state.
“I like it. It’s nice and neat, actually. And it looks good, everything,” Cantiberos said. “It helps people out.”
The recent bake stand boom is prompting the Department of Health to investigate a dozen of them statewide over the past few months, citing nine for not being compliant with certain food standards.
Still, residents from near and far are flocking to these rustic sheds to support local.
More than 100 people show up at the roadside bake stand in Kaneohe. And that has shocked Lila Bermudes and Kamealani Carvalho. The two jumped into the business headfirst after a random meeting.
“I just had bought this house from Kamealani… and there was a missed delivery here so her information was on the package,” Bermudes said. “But before that, a lot of the neighbors were already telling me what a great baker she was and they would ask me if I bake, and I’m like, ‘No, I don’t bake. I make lattes, but no.'”
The two strangers met up and took a leap of faith.
“What was supposed to be three minutes turned into like a 30-minute conversation, right?,” Bermudes said.
“We came up with the concept and after that we were like texting constantly, like ‘I think we’re doing this, like we’re doing this, yeah?’ And we opened Feb. 12,” Carvalho added.
Through social media and word-of-mouth, the business took off.
Customers thirsting for not just morning coffee, but nostalgia.
“It’s like that old school style of trading almost, you know. I mean you have a product that you can provide and people in the community can come and pick up stuff to eat,” said customer Dustin Nakayama.
And it’s all based on trust with customers paying by Venmo or cash in a box.
“It’s a trust-based business really and that’s kind of old-school style, right?,” Nakayama said. “We don’t really have that anymore and it’s good to see it again.”
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