Back to School Means a Very Specific Care Package for Hawaii Co-Eds

Despite the stubbornly high temperatures (for Hawaii I mean :-) and the lack of rain here on the North Shore, there is no doubt that Fall is upon us. It's hard to ignore the season with so many students gearing up to either go off to college for the first time or return for another year. Like anywhere else, leaving home to attend college in another region of the country or abroad usually means adjusting to that region's weather and culture. This is even more true for students leaving Hawaii for schools on the Mainland. For some, it will be their first trip off the island!

One way to adjust to the usually drastic change in "food culture" is to bring your own non-perishable favorites with you. Parents are stocking up on all the things that are usually unique to Hawaii and nearly impossible to find elsewhere. Here is just a sampling of some of the things that go into these packages - not the usual brownies and cookies:

Guava Jelly (It really beats grape hands-down)
Aloha brand Shoyu (Soy Sauce to us "Mainlanders")
Cuttle Fish (A small marine animal related to the octopus which is dried and salted)
Mochi Crunch (A Japanese rice cracker with nori [seaweed]) to mix up with popcorn
Cans of Spam (Yes, they sell this on the Mainland, but it's still necessary to pack)
Rice Cooker

In addition to having to adjust to the change in their favorite food's availability, many students from Hawaii now have to adjust to sometimes drastic climate change. Here in Hawaii, the air is always moist and of course it never snows. So how does the new Hawaii co-ed deal with the dryness and cold? Well jackets of course and a steady supply of our Kukui oil, lotions, and creams. It's no coincidence that we at Oils of Aloha usually see a surge in the sale of these items around this time of year: they are indispensable in cold weather. Instead of extreme dryness and cracking skin, you can actually have soft, supple moisturized skin all winter long! Who knew? Well the parents sending their kids off to the Mainland do, which is why our products are usually included in these care packages.

Beginning today, we are offering 10% off your entire order until September 9th, so you can stock up for Winter for less. Just enter "backtoschool" (all lower case, no quotation marks) at checkout. Also, please feel free to share some of your own care package necessities with us here. We have quite a few parents sending their kids off to Mainland schools this year and could probably use some advice.

Made In Hawaii Show

One of the only complaints I hear when family and friends come to visit, is that it is hard to find gifts that are actually made in Hawaii to bring back to the Mainland. In a sea of "Made in China" stickers that adorn the majority of products sold in the most popular tourist shops, it seems that authentic "Made in Hawaii" products are scarce in comparison. My visitors usually end up bringing home lots of macadamia nuts, Kona coffee, & Oils of Aloha products, which are wonderful gifts but finding variety is a challenge. However, that doesn't mean it's impossible!

In an effort to increase awareness of Hawaiian made products, Bank of Hawaii has partnered with hundreds of Hawaii businesses to put on the Made in Hawaii show. If you are lucky enough to be in Hawaii during this time, you'll have the privilege of being exposed to some of the greatest products, food, craftsmanship, and entertainment Hawaii has to offer. The best part is that many of the businesses will be offering special discounted pricing, so if you're in town, make sure and go. I think I'm going to be doing my holiday shopping a little early this year.

Oils of Aloha will be at booth #134 and we'll be passing out our delicious Macadamia Oil popped popcorn, as well as introducing our new Kukui Paradise Fragranced lotion. We'll be offering all of our products at special show pricing. If you can't make it to the show, then you can use the coupon "MadeInHawaii" at checkout and you'll receive 25% off of your total order. (Make sure and omit the quotation marks when typing in the code.) This offer is good from August 16 - 20 at our website: www.oilsofaloha.com

The show is at the Neil Blaisdell Theater on August 17, 18, & 19. On Friday & Saturday, it's going from 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Visit the website http://www.madeinhawaiifestival.com for more information as well as 5% off airline travel from the mainland with Hawaiian Airlines.