Lilikoi Sandbars ($23.99 for 24)
Menehune Mac has been offering delicious desserts since 1939. Eighty years later, it is still going strong, and still serving up chocolates, cookies and other delights for both locals and visitors. Stop by the factory and shop in Kalihi and you will no doubt be overwhelmed by the number of choices available. Have no fear, Menehune Mac makes it easy for you to sample a variety of handmade goodies.
“We offer empty boxes that hold either nine or 15 cookies or chocolates,” explains Menehune Mac executive chocolate taster (really!) Susan Morita. “Each individual piece is 95 cents. People can create whatever mix they want.”
To help you decide, Menehune Mac has plenty of free samples available.
Menehune Mac chocolates
Morita says local folks are especially fond of the Dark Chocolate Arare, which blends sweet and savory in one crunchy, chocolaty treat. Visitors from Japan, on the other hand, love the Pineapple Snow Macadamia. Macadamia nuts are dipped in a creamy white vanilla confection infused with pineapple essence for the perfect bite of island flavor. Menehune Mac only uses Hawaii-grown macadamia nuts for its products.
Among the cookie offerings, a popular choice is the Lilikoi Sandbar ($23.99 for 24 individually wrapped bars). Hand-rolled butter shortbread cookies are glazed with lilikoi compote and finished with a sprinkling of twice baked raw sugar.
Assorted wrapped chocolates
Concerned about your sugar intake? Menehune Mac offers sugar-free options such as Sugar Free Dark Chocolate Macadamia Nut and Sugar Free Macadamia Nut Shortbread Cookies (both $9.95 a box). Morita says people can rarely tell the difference between their regular and sugar-free offerings.
The best place to pick up some of Menehune Mac’s flavorful concoctions is at its gift shop on Waiakamilo Road in Kalihi. “We don’t sell to mainstream stores,” Morita says. “You need to come here.” And the shop offers more than just sweets. It also carries products from such local companies as bags from Twiggy and greeting cards from Emi Ink.
A DELICIOUS PARTY
Menehune Mac is celebrating its 80th anniversary with a special birthday bash on Sept. 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at its Kalihi headquarters. There will be door prizes and games, and other local companies such as Hawaiian Chip Company, Lion Coffee and Tea Chest Hawaii will be on hand offering their own products. The event will also help raise awareness for the Evan M. Nakashige Foundation, which seeks to increase access to behavioral health services for young adults. For more information or to RSVP, contact Susan Morita at susan@menehunemac.com.
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