Meet 11 rising Hawaiʻi companies, watch their stories from anywhere and shop alongside their founders at this year’s month-long celebration.
For the past six months, 11 Hawaiʻi companies have been doing the work customers rarely see.
They have refined their brands, strengthened their operations, navigated manufacturing and distribution challenges and prepared to reach more customers—across the islands and far beyond them.
Now comes the fun part: showing everyone what they have built.
Mana Up Showcase 2026 begins in October with online specials, product sneak peeks, limited releases and giveaways. It leads into a television broadcast and global livestream on Sunday, October 18, before bringing more than 65 local companies together for an in-person Marketplace and Celebration at Bloomingdale’s Ala Moana Center on Thursday, November 5.
That makes this year’s Showcase less a single event than a month-long invitation to discover what Hawaiʻi’s entrepreneurs are creating next.
You can watch from anywhere. You can shop the newest products as they drop. And if you are on Oʻahu, you can meet many of the people behind them in person.
Mana Up Showcase is where Hawaiʻi’s entrepreneurs get to tell their stories, introduce what they have created and connect directly with the people who want to support them.
The entrepreneurs of Cohort 11 with Mana Up co-founders Meli James and Brittany Heyd.
BUJO BAE founder Jenna Aina (left) and Oysters Hawaii (right) are part of Cohort 11.
Start With the Newest Class of Hawaiʻi Entrepreneurs
Cohort 11 was selected from a record 256 applicants—the largest pool in Mana Up’s history. Its founders come from Oʻahu, Maui, Hawaiʻi Island and Kauaʻi and work across food, beverage, wellness, beauty, fashion and lifestyle products.
What connects them is not one industry or one version of Hawaiʻi. It is the ambition to build companies that can grow without losing the place, culture and communities that shaped them.
Several are bringing longstanding local brands into a new era.
Hilo’s Maebo Noodle Factory, a fourth-generation business known for One-Ton Chips and fresh saimin and chow fun noodles, has been part of island life for 76 years. Yick Lung – Hawaiʻi’s Choice draws on more than a century of snack-making history while introducing favorites such as Nibb-its and Li Hing Plum and Mango tablets to a new generation.
On Maui, Island Essence has spent more than 35 years handcrafting bath, spa and body botanicals. In Honokaʻa, Āhualoa Family Farms works with local farmers and roasts Hawaiʻi-grown macadamia nuts in small batches at its farm, Nuthouse Kitchen & Shop and restored historic factory.
Other founders are starting with ingredients grown here and imagining new ways to use them.
Kauaʻi-based Wailua Granola Co. makes small-batch, dairy-free granola with fresh Kauaʻi coconut and raw Kauaʻi honey. Waimea Herb Company, a Native Hawaiian, family-owned business on Hawaiʻi Island, works with regenerative farmers to produce herbal and black tea blends from locally grown botanicals. Good Mana turns island-grown ingredients into supplements such as ʻŌlena Gold turmeric and Hang Easy recovery support.
Then there are the ideas that resist an easy category.
Hilo-raised artist Jenna Aina Ikeda created BUJO BAE, a line of planners, guided journals, notepads and hand-drawn stationery designed to make everyday routines more creative. Kailua-based Oceans End pairs practical handbags and accessories with elevated island style. Oysters Hawaiʻi, founded by sisters Allie Chu Pokipala and Julie Chu Fieman, has grown Hawaiʻi’s first mobile oyster-shucking and caviar catering company into a product brand with its own smoked ponzu sauce.
And on Maui, Vaui Social Liquids is giving happy hour a different kind of buzz with tropical, sparkling, alcohol-free kava beverages designed for social occasions—minus the hangover.
Together, the class brings the number of businesses supported by Mana Up’s accelerator to 116 across 11 cohorts.
Singer HOKU will co-host Mana Up Showcase 2026 with Meli James. (Photo: Courtesy of Hoku)
Watch Their Stories From Anywhere
A package can tell you what a company makes. It rarely tells you why its founder began, what nearly stopped them or what they hope to build next.
That is the job of the Mana Up Showcase Broadcast.
The October 18 special will introduce viewers to the people leading Cohort 11 and the ideas taking shape across Hawaiʻi. It will air on Hawaiʻi News Now stations K5 and KHNL and stream worldwide through Mana Up’s website, Facebook and YouTube channels. Hawaiʻi News Now will announce broadcast times and encore dates.
Mana Up co-founder Meli James will host the special alongside Honolulu-born singer and actress Hoku.
The daughter of legendary Hawaiʻi entertainer Don Ho, Hoku grew up performing in her father’s Waikīkī show before signing with Interscope/Geffen Records at 18. Her songs “Another Dumb Blonde” and “Perfect Day”—the latter memorably opening Legally Blonde—introduced her to a global audience. Now returning to music and the stage, she brings both her Hawaiʻi roots and a natural understanding of what it means to take a local story beyond the islands.
Viewers will be able to discover the companies as their stories unfold and shop Showcase offers through House of Mana Up.
The broadcast is the centerpiece of A Month of Showcase, an October-long lineup of flash sales, product sneak peeks, special offers, giveaways and limited drops. Instead of asking everyone to be in the same room on the same night, this year’s programming gives people more ways to participate—and more reasons to keep checking back.
Whether you are watching from Honolulu, Hilo, Los Angeles or Tokyo, the point is the same: support local, wherever you are.
The in-person Showcase 2025 Marketplace at Bloomingdale's.
Meet the Makers at Bloomingdale’s
The broadcast introduces the founders. The in-person celebration lets you talk with them.
On Thursday, November 5, more than 65 Mana Up alumni and current cohort companies are expected to gather at Bloomingdale’s Ala Moana Center from 5 to 8 p.m.
Guests can discover new releases, sample products, shop Showcase specials and experience activations from Mana Up partners. More importantly, they can meet the people doing the making.
That changes the shopping experience. You can ask why a founder chose a particular ingredient, how a pattern came together or what took the longest to get right. The person answering may also be the one who developed the product, designed the packaging, packed the early orders and persuaded the first retailer to put it on a shelf.
It feels less like walking through a conventional marketplace and more like stepping into Hawaiʻi’s entrepreneurial community for an evening.
The celebration will continue with an Artists to Watch Concert and official afterparty at Mai Tai’s Ala Moana. Vendor and entertainment details will be announced as the event approaches.
Sign Up for Updates—and a Chance to Win
Showcase updates will include broadcast times, Marketplace details, flash sales, new product releases and other announcements throughout October.
Signing up also unlocks opportunities to win several of this year’s signature prizes:
A two-night stay at Four Seasons Resort Oʻahu at Ko Olina in an Oceanfront King Room, including daily breakfast for two at La Hiki Kitchen
King’s Hawaiian’s “Year of Aloha,” with 12 monthly boxes of signature rolls, specialty baked goods, seasonal treats and more, valued at approximately $500
Round-trip tickets on Hawaiian Airlines
Celebrating Mana Up Cohort 10 at Showcase 2025
A Celebration Built Around Hawaiʻi’s Entrepreneurs
King’s Hawaiian returns as the Exclusive Presenting Sponsor of Mana Up Showcase 2026, with visibility across the broadcast, global livestream and in-person celebration.
“As the Presenting Sponsor of the Mana Up Showcase, King’s Hawaiian is honored to support Mana Up and its commitment to helping Hawaiʻi entrepreneurs grow, thrive and share their stories,” said Winston Taira, President – Hawaiʻi Region, King’s Hawaiian. “As a company born in Hawaiʻi, we believe in investing in local businesses and creating opportunities that strengthen our communities for generations to come.”
Bank of Hawaiʻi, Hawaiian Airlines, Hawaiian Telcom and UHA Health Insurance will serve as Showcase Sponsors, providing key support throughout this year’s programming.
Additional sponsors include Kaiser Permanente, Maui Divers Jewelry, Bloomingdale’s, HEI, Nordic PCL Construction, Okahara and Associates, Servco, Spire, VertAccount, Enterprise, the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity, RKT Media, Daubert Design Co., Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra, Haku Collective by Kimié Miner and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
Their support helps put Hawaiʻi’s entrepreneurs in front of larger audiences. But the real momentum comes from what happens next: someone watches a founder’s story, tries a product, tells a friend, places an order or returns to see what the company creates after Showcase.
That is why this event matters. It is not simply a graduation for 11 businesses. It is an early look at the companies and ideas that could shape Hawaiʻi’s next generation of local brands.
Watch the Mana Up Showcase Broadcast on October 18 and attend the Marketplace and Celebration on November 5.
Visit ManaUpShowcase.com for tickets, updates and viewing information.
