 Ah, this is Rob Hack, back with another episode of Exporting from Hawaii. Today, I'm very lucky to have a guest come in all the way from Hilo on the Big Island, is Robin Williams. She's the president of Hawaiian Body Product. Thank you very much for being here, Robin. Thanks for coming all the way from Hilo. It was fun. It's a pleasure. And thank you for my wonderful lay. So, I've known Hawaiian Body Products for a few years. I think most people in Hawaii will have seen it at stores, some upscale stores. Can you tell us about the history of you? How did you get to Hawaii and how did you start this company? Well, let's see. I came with my husband to Hawaii in 2001 and our little two-year-old and it was a bit of a really leap-off-a-cliff transition. We came from California where my husband had a woodworking business and I had a clothing business. I had been designing and manufacturing clothing in Asia for many years and we decided to move to Hawaii and it was one of those strange things like, wow, now what are you doing? We came basically to get close to our Hina'i family who are Hawaiian and we decided after a number of years of flip-flopping work and my clothing company dissolving that we were going to start a new company and in 2004 we moved to the big island with the idea that as a family, I mean the greater family, we were going to start a Hawaiian body product line and my Hina'i sister, Kila, had been formulating natural body products for many years and she was going to be the formulator. I was going to be the marketer and salesperson and my husband basically went from being a woodworker to a production manager which he ended up being very good at. So that's how we started OLA and you wonder, well, why body products or something like that? I felt that there was definitely a need in the market back in those days. There wasn't a lot of really high quality luxury body and skin care lines and so we felt like we had a real niche and my sister, Kila, has a real knack. I say divine, sort of divine from her great-grandmother from Hawaii and she just really knew understood plants and understood how she could create a sort of a synergy of Hawaiian plants in a beautiful product and yeah it just kind of blew out the door starting 2006. That's great. So you mentioned, there's a good segue to my next question because Hawaiian body products is a parent company but you mentioned OLA so can you explain the difference between the brands that you have? Yes, OLA Tropical Apothecary is our body care line. It's at the center of the table. It is basically a tropically scented group of products, travel size and full size products that are focused on the spa industry which is more of a high-end sophisticated consumer level. Although we do sell at Whole Foods and numerous better specialty stores, we have really focused on the spa industry all these years. We brought in our skin care line over here near me. There's a few products shown there. We brought in our all-natural Hawaiian plant-based skin care line last year and over there by Rob we have our OLA Pono line which was a line that was co-curated with Kumu Dain Silva on the Big Island, kind of a cultural practitioner who helped us to create a line focused on self-care, massage, purification and relieving of inflammation. So we really have three very different groups that work well together. They all have a plant-based concept, you know, beautiful Hawaiian ingredient focused but they are three different groups. And near me is the Lomi Stick. Can you just very briefly explain the history of your Lomi Stick and the group that makes these Lomi Stick? I think that's a great story. The Lomi Sticks are a wonderful addition to a self-care, you know, massage, you know, wellness group because it's a very easy tool to use on yourself or on your Ohana, on your family. It's actually it was Kumu Dain's idea to create a simple portable Lomi Stick. The traditional Lomi Sticks are much bigger. They're L shaped, not exactly portable or user friendly, easy to use. So the Lomi Sticks were kind of a new idea. We started making them originally just a friend or this person, that person making the Lomi Sticks. But then one day I discovered the Lanakila Learning Center through one of the teachers there. And next thing you know, I was talking to the director. The school was always underfunded. This Lanakila Learning Center is a at risk youth alternative high school in Hilo and obviously very under subsidized. So we were very thrilled to be part of that. We buy the Lomi Sticks from them. The kids go out into the woods. They harvest, they sand, they learn about how to use tools, about how to use their hands at common sense, you know, really good life lessons. And it's guava. And it's guava, it's vaivi. So it's actually like an invasive species that we are turning into a good purpose. They are all different, obviously one of a kind. And on the back of the Lomi Stick it talks about our partnership with the Lanakila Learning Center and also the Lanakila Learning Center does farming up on our property which grows many of the ingredients that we use in our products including guava, taro, mamaki, lemongrass, aloe vera, flower, gardenia, hibiscus, avapui, ginger, alena, turmeric, many things. Well, you're really talking up the property. You're going to get visitors then. Are you set up to take visitors? We unfortunately were not and I know agritourism is such a big thing and I wish that we were set up to have tourists come, have visitors come because it's a perfect environment. It's just that we're not set up. We have a small factory on the property. We don't really have a presentation area. We just aren't quite there yet. Would love to do that someday. But basically it's very cool because we grow the ingredients. We process them on property. We infuse them into the products. We do everything by hand. It's very labor-intense. But I call that gives the product even more quality and value. Is there even a little store on the property? Could people stop by and buy it or they have to buy it at a store in town? Yeah, we don't have a store yet. We always direct people to our local health food store or spas, hotels. But yeah, unfortunately, even after 15 years, we don't have our own store. We talk about it a lot, but I haven't done it. No, it's a whole other kind of work. It is, it is. So this is you. I know this Ola Plumeria Body Butter is one of your most popular products, right? What's the, how long have you been making this? What's the history of this, but it smells wonderful? Well, believe it or not, actually all the products that you see here are most of them, I should say 98% of the products we've had since the beginning. We launched our moisturizing products, our cleansing products, our hydrating products all together with many different scents. It was all about bringing the scents of Hawaii, the ingredients of Hawaii, and these really beautiful, high quality crafted products. The Body Butter is just one of our hero products because it has such a luxurious feel and makes your skin radiant. It hydrates all day long. It's not a cheap product. Waxes and filler type ingredients. But yeah, our products are definitely based in the energy of the Ola, if you will. And Ola, by the way, means life force in Hawaiian. So that is the premise, bringing the life force of Hawaii into products wherever you are. You mentioned scents and for me, anything that's lily koi flavored, I will taste. I love lily koi. Don't eat that. But the scent of this passion fruit body butter is really incredible. It smells edible, but it's really wonderful. I highly recommend people run out and get some of that. So did the scents make it into the other creams? Yeah, basically, we have coconut with a hint of lemongrass. We have passion fruit, plumeria, pikkake, which is the Hawaiian jasmine, of course. Rainforest, which actually highlights maile and iliyahi, sandalwood. Those five scents, I think I mentioned five, and they run through the whole line. So from our deep sea body mist focused on mola ka'i, nigari or deep sea minerals, to our sugar polish featuring Hawaiian honey and raw sugar, our lotions, our butters, our body washes, all biodegradable, all good for the environment. It's a very well thought out line. Great, and I love to hear about how much of it is made in Hawaii and Big Island in particular. Is there a common denominator in your customer? Like, is your customer of a certain age or demographic, or I'm very curious about it? I know, and it's true. It's a very interesting question. I would say our customer mostly is 30 to 50 based on income level. I mean, it's not a cheap product. It's a sophisticated product. I know young people are also very interested in ingredients and using natural and organic products on their skin and in their food. But it's definitely more geared towards a more sophisticated audience. And I think the price point puts it a little bit out of the league of 20-something person. But they still love it. Even young people, especially in Japan, when they run into us, they're all over the sense and can't believe it, screaming and enjoying it. Is there a product you found that is particularly successful in Japan that more so than here for the one that's taking off? To be honest, not really. The same products are successful in Japan as in Hawaii. But because it's Japan and the price point is therefore even higher, we saw a lot of our travel-sized products. So it's all very small, more of a small, centric fail. But the sense, we noticed when we first went into Japan about eight years ago that coconut was just a no-go. The Japanese really didn't like coconut. Loved passion fruit from the get-go. Really all about plumeria because they'd always known plumeria. It's just a word that they recognize. But we found coconut has really taken off and they love the rainforest. I think because it's kind of grassy and subtle. The Japanese, I think, really tend to like a subtler sense and definitely more floral than fruity, but passion fruit is a standout for some reason. And you've made some headway in European markets recently. Is there any difference there? Switzerland? Well, yes. And yeah, actually, Europeans seem to have a different nose altogether. And I find that fascinating. They definitely like the subtler, more kind of Japanese in that way, subtler sense, not the bold sense, very interested in ingredients. I mean, the Europeans are already sort of leagues ahead of us in terms of curating and sort of limiting ingredients. But I think the same products sell well. Our Ola Pono line does really well in Switzerland. But our importer is also a lomi-lomi practitioner. So I think she's biased. So she's focusing more on the wellness part of the market in that way. I know, too, you're selling some in Canada in a different way. Is Canada much more like the mainland US market? I would say so. I would say that Canada and the US have a lot more similarities. We don't have as much experience. We don't have an importer in Canada or a distributor yet. But we've been selling to individual pause mostly in Canada since we started. So let's say 12, 14 years ago. And I think in many respects, it's like bringing sort of paradise into wherever you are, into Ontario, Canada, or Alberta, or BC. It's really a special niche. It's an escape. It really transforms you and your attitude when you smell and try these products. I think in that way, it really, it's all about just whey on that level, just bringing that sense of taking a trip wherever you are, no matter when it is winter or summer. So most of your, is this a fair statement? Most of your distribution starts with spas. And then people, customers of the spa, realize how nice these products are, then they'll buy them on their own afterwards. Absolutely. We have devoted, I mean, once people try our products, I think they really, it's safe to say they fall in love and they, we get calls and in emails from people constantly. I tried it here at this spa or that spa or that resort, or it was in my, you know, in the amenities and they just go, I need more of that. I love that one cent or the other cent and have to have it. You know, it's like once they try it, it's kind of like they have to have it. Get kind of obsessed. All right. With that, we'll take a quick break and we'll be right back with Robin Williams of Hawaiian Body Parts. Thanks to our ThinkTech underwriters and grand tours, the Atherton Family Foundation, Carol Mun Lee and the Friends of ThinkTech, the Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education, Collateral Analytics, the Cook Foundation, Dwayne Kurisu, the Hawaii Community Foundation, the Hawaii Council of Associations of Apartment Owners, Hawaii Energy, the Hawaii Energy Policy Forum, Hawaiian Electric Company, Integrated Security Technologies, Galen Ho of BAE Systems, Kamehameha Schools, MW Group, the Shidler Family Foundation, the Sydney Stern Memorial Trust, VOLO Foundation, Yuriko J. Sugimura. Thanks so much to you all. Aloha. This is Rob Hack back on reporting from Hawaii today with Robin Williams, president of Hawaiian Body Products. Are you right in Hilo? Are you just outside? Just right outside. Right up the Mt. Maoka. I bet. That's great. Let's talk now about actually sending the products to Japan, for example. A lot of our audience wants to hear about Japan, but I also know you have experience in Japan working there before, several years selling these products. So we've already established that you sell pretty much every product you would buy in Hawaii. You would sell those. With the exception of the skincare that hasn't launched yet, except at Hale Kalani Resort in Okinawa, they just opened and introduced our skincare, so that was exciting. But most of the products, yes, have been introduced into the Japanese market. Recently you were in Okinawa for that show, where they're selling your products and using the products. Yes, in the services. What did you find about Okinawa? It's an interesting place because it's Japan, but it's not really Japan. Yes, it has a really different feel. I really didn't know what to expect. The people are a little bit different, even in the look of the people. I don't want to make stereotyped comments, but I was only there for a few days. But I really had a sense that Okinawa had an incredibly rich history, which was basically obliterated, for the most part, in terms of visuals. But it's a very tropical place. It was very hot. Similar to Hawaii. Very similar to Hawaii. And the resorts up there have the advantage of incredibly blue, gorgeous ocean, coastline with tropical elements. It's quite an amazing, beautiful place. The Hale Kalani brought us in, and we're very proud and honored to be there. And because there is so many similarities between Hawaii and Okinawa, and because we also work with the Hale Kalani in Waikiki, I think they thought it was kind of a good fit to bring Ola to Okinawa. Well, that's great. I don't know. I assume, though. I've been there, but if you still recall, most of their guests are from mainland Japan. Actually, no. They call themselves—Okinawa calls itself the gateway to Asia. I think either way. It's like somehow a bridge from one Asian country to another Asian country. So I feel like it's definitely a bridge to Japan from China or Southeast Asia. And I think it's a very popular resort place to visit because of its climate. That's great. That's a good place to have your products that will expose them to other countries. And then you were recently at the Hankyu Festival, which is—Hankyu's a large Japanese department store, but more focused towards southern Japan. It's headquartered in Osaka, and they have an annual fair every year. This one was longer than normal about 10 days a week. Yes. That's a long fair. And so you bring your products from Hawaii, and you sell them at the fair. Yeah. We do. Keep in mind that because we are considered a cosmetics brand, we go through a lot more of our rigorous sort of clearance process to get our products into Japan. Japan's very strict with their pharmaceutical, you know, cosmetics department. So first of all, we rely heavily on an importer. They have to go through all the rigmarole of bringing the products in. It's very expensive to get that license, and not many people have it. So it's a real channel, but you have to go through those channels if you are a cosmetics line. But on the other hand, it's easier for us because we can arrive at Hankyu, the products have all been cleared through customs. They have been labeled with Japanese label because they have to be the ingredients. And then we just go ahead and have a great time for a week and a half because the Japanese love the products. How much product do you take for a show? Then would you ship all of that by air or by ocean? We ship by air because it's actually not, we've found we get great rates with FedEx. We actually use their great rates program, which on any given day, they give you the best possible rate and it's quite reasonable. So for the most part now, we exclusively use FedEx for shipping. We use air because with natural products, you don't want to mess around with hot storage areas and lengthy times in transition. It's just risky. You want the product to be in perfect shape when it gets to its destination. So FedEx is like a three-day turnaround door-to-door. There's no flight from Hilo to Osaka, so all of those products come through Honolulu. Yeah. And then go to Japan, or maybe Japan. Okay, that's great. So you were there for 10 days and how much did you take roughly? That's a lot of product. They have certain expectations about your sales. So Honkyu is very clear on what they expect you to do in terms of sales. You work extremely hard for 10 days or more long days. I keep saying, we're America, we're not used to working like that. They look at me like, we don't even understand what you're saying. So 12-hour days is pretty typical, but you're on your feet and you're selling like crazy all day long. It's fun though. That's fun. It is fun. Hearing the chiching in the background and the cash register. It's just wonderful seeing the appreciation level. We have so many return customers that come every year and they just load up on our products. And it just, I always say, you know, you guys make me feel so special and our lines so special. That's great. So there's repeat customers that are coming back and looking for you and looking at the stock up on the product for a year, so that's great. Now where would a customer in Japan, if you weren't at that show, where would a customer go to buy a product? Well, that's a good question. And because we've had a very kind of a roller coaster ride through importers over the last eight to 10 years, we had accounts, we lost accounts, we got new accounts, we lost it. Up and down, the importers of recent years have been very fond of just having a website and selling the products through the website and loving the marketing value of Honkyu or other, you know, outside sort of marketing venues, but then really channeling all the sales through the website. Obviously, they're making a much higher market. So there's an inventory in Japan where somebody could order from a website and get shipped that into the inventory domestically. It doesn't get shipped Hilo to a customer. No, that's correct, but yeah. And because it's such a short turnaround from Hawaii to Japan in terms of our shit, they can place orders, get them, you know, within a week and and fill their customer orders in a short time frame. What do you think is the difference? Roughly speaking, what is the markup in the Japanese market above and beyond the price here to account for shipping and the testing and the labeling in Japanese? Is there a significant markup or is it just a few percent? No, I'd say it's pretty significant. It's between about 30 to 50 percent above what we would typically suggest our retail price. I think they really kind of based on what they think the market can bear. So some products have a higher profit margin than others, normal, but it's pretty high. So the customers are in Japan are prepared to pay that high price. But this is a premium product. I think they know that going in. But what I like to hear is that you have local inventory and a customer there can order and probably get it in her hands or his hands in 40 days, 72 hours. Pretty much as quickly as the local agent can turn it around. That's right. Domestic shipping in Japan is extremely efficient. Of course, you could imagine it would be. But you can get things around Japan quite quickly. So that's really good to hear. And I wish that more of our local companies here in Hawaii. Do you have any idea for each of the skews? You have a lot of skews, actually. Too many. How much that has cost over the years to get tested for these individual markets of any idea? You know, I don't know how much it's cost to test the individual products because they are complex formulations. I mean, I think we go out of our way to make our formulas complicated, which probably is to the detriment of our importers. Let me ask you a quick question. When you get it tested, you have to tell Japanese authorities or the company that's tested with it. You have to tell them you're exactly right. A lot of people would be hesitant about that. Yes. So how do you feel? It's not an exact recipe. There are rules that give you the manufacturer permission to you have to provide a manufacturer's certificate and it has to list each ingredient. But you can do close to this percentage. So below 3%, below 1%, above 5%, below 10%, something like that. So if you think people are going to haul off and try to repeat your recipes, they're going to have an idea how to do that, but not exactly. OK. But Japan, I wouldn't be worried about that. Not Japan, right. OK, we're going to wrap it up. Before we do, can you put up the one slide, please, is contact information for a Robin Hawaiian body product? In Hilo, this is your main telephone number. Yes, it is. That is our office info at Hawaiian body products dot com. If people wanted, we're watching the show and they wanted to run out and buy some of this, where would they go right now to DFS is a great source, both at the airport and at the gallery. They carry our skincare and the Olapono group. And Whole Foods at Queens, Kahala and Kailua carries a lot of our two ounce travel size products and actually and many of the hotels that have spas in Waikiki and Honolulu carry our brand as well. Great. And I highly recommend everybody in the audience, run out and smell the passion fruit, but it's the top selling scent. It's really incredible. So thank you very much for being here for coming all the way from the Big Island. We really appreciate it. This was Rob Hack wrapping up another episode of exporting from Hawaii. Mahalo.