Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 11, 1 Nowemapa 2003 — Hawaiian handcrafters' cooperative expands services [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian handcrafters' cooperative expands services

Hale Kuai offers added assistance in marketing and distribution By Sterling Kini Wong AHau'ula cooperative is expanding its services to Native Hawaiian producers in order to ease the pressures of manufacturing and distributing their handcrafted products. Hale Kū'ai, a consumer cooperative specializing in products made by Native Hawaiians, was created 10 years ago as an eeonomie initiative of Ka Lāhui Hawai'i, a Native Hawaiian sovereignty organization, to perpetuate Native Hawaiian values, self-sufficiency and self-determination for indigenous peoples. Products featured at Hale Kū'ai range from pahu to clothing to food products. Hale Kū'ai Executive Director Carol Matsuzaki said that as a result of acquiring two new sources of financing, refocusing its mission statement and adding two venues, Hale Kū'ai, is becoming a "support center" for Native Hawaiian producers, many of whom work by themselves in creating their products. "We are bridging the gaps for Native Hawaiian producers," Matsuzaki said. "We're really looking

to them to tell us what their added needs are. If we don't have the answers to their questions, we will help them find someone who does." Hale Kū'ai entered into a partnership with the Ko'olauloa Hawaiian Civic Club, whieh was awarded a two-year, $450,000 grant from the U.S. Administration for Native Americans to administer "The Native Hawaiian Producer Project." Hale Kū'ai will carry out the project and use the money, along with an 18-month, $20,000 Hawai'i Department of Eeonomie Development and Tourism grant, to provide producers with services such as training in business, marketing, lahel and packaging design, as well as access to such necessities as the Internet, childcare and a certified kitchen. Cathleen Mattoon, president of Ko'olauloa Hawaiian Civic Club, said that many Native Hawaiian

producers are apprehensive about overcharging for their goods, and as a result they undercharge. She explained that one of the main goals of the project is to educate producers on pricing so that they are more comfortable asking for fair market value for their products. Joyce Uyemura, who

sells flowers through Hale Kū'ai, is just one producer who has benefited from the cooperative's expanded services. She said that Hale Kū'ai's Hawaiian Producers Conference, held in July, clarified how to price her products and helped her better understand the importance of labeling products so consumers ean identify her company. Uyemura, who doesn't have a computer, said she was also able to access the Internet through Hale Kū'ai to shop around for the best price of eow skins for her husband, who uses the skins to make pahu that he sells through Hale Kū'ai. Uyemura said that she is grateful for Hale Kū'ai's support and explained that, "for us every little bit helps." In order to reach a larger market and to increase visibility, Hale Kū'ai in October 2002 began displaying featured products at the Nā

Mea Hawai'i crafts store in downtown Honolulu, and in September of 2003 they opened a venue in the Nā Mea Hawai'i and Native Books store in Ward Warehouse. Testing the Waikīkī market, Hale Kū'ai also opened a kiosk in the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center for two weeks in September. As a consumer cooperative, Hale Kū'ai is owned by eaeh of its more than 230 members. As owners of the cooperative, members determine what to do with the profits generated from the store after expenses are paid. Eaeh of the 60 cooperative producers is required to be a member, and eaeh member receives a 10 percent discount on all products in the store. Matsuzaki explained that Hale Kū'ai is successful because people believe in the cooperative's mission of encouraging Native Hawaiian entrepreneurship and eeonomie self-sufficiency. "We are not in it for the money. We are in it to promote Native Hawaiian-made things and to help Hawaiians," Matsuzaki said. "If Hawaiians are self-sufficient, everybody wins." Hale Kū'ai operates independently of Ka Lāhui Hawai'i, but eontributes one percent of its gross sales to the organization. ■

Pā'oihana

Shoppers were able to browse a variety of Hawaiianmade products at the Native Hawaiian Producers Conference sponsored by Hale Kū'ai in July.