About the Shop
Aloha! My name is Nāpua, and I am the founder of Nālani Farm Store. I am so excited to share my passion with you.
I was fortunate enough to be born and raised in Hawaiʻi. I grew up in a generation before cell phones and spent a lot of time outside. I have always felt very connected to the land; my hānai uncle calls me keiki o ka ʻāina, child of the land.
My favorite memories are of times looking for freshly fallen mangoes in shaded orchards, waiting for the papayas on the trees to ripen, running barefoot through the yard chasing chickens and later going for midnight horseback rides under the full moon and watching Mauna Kea light up in shades of pink and orange at sunrise.
I have been truly blessed to grow up close to the land, soaking in the beauty and magic of my island home. This is the experience I wish to share with you.
May every gift of the land bring you closer to the beauty and magic of these islands.
hānai (adopted), keiki (child), ʻāina (land), Mauna Kea (White Mountain)
Nālani
This is the story behind our name, Nālani. It is a family name that was passed down from my great-grandfather to my grandfather to me. The English translation is “the heavens.”
I wear this name proudly because it represents a family legacy of executing our talents to their fullest in service to our families and our communities. It represents strength and love.
The patriarch of my family, father to my great-grandfather, was a Chinese man by the name of Chung Mook Ah Heen. He immigrated to Hawaiʻi from China in the mid 1800s. He landed in Olowalu, Maui where he set up a little shop that served his local community and fell in love with a beautiful Hawaiian woman by the name of Mary Meheʻula. Together they moved to Honolulu where they expanded their business and raised their children. Their children and grandchildren went on to do great things in service to their communities, in a legacy that lives on today.
My kūpuna have shown me that through perseverance, hard work and the support of a community, great things can be born from the humble beginnings of a little shop.
kūpuna (grandparents, ancestors)
Our Vision for the Future
We have a dream that one day Hawaiʻi will be a place where the hearts and minds, bodies and souls of all people will be fed and nourished by the beauty and magic of our ʻāina in the spirit of aloha.
We have a dream that one day our soils and farmlands will be healthy and thriving, that our ʻāina will feed us once again and we will know food sovereignty in our lifetime.
We have a dream that our keiki will live in a land of abundance, where they are healthy, safe and well cared for, where no keiki is hungry and no keiki is homeless and every keiki knows aloha.
ʻāina (land), aloha (kindness, unity, agreeable, humility, patience), keiki (child)
Nālani Farm Store is located in historic downtown Hilo. The atmosphere is quaint. You can expect to find a good selection of made in Hawai’i goods for every price range. We only work with brands we trust and either know personally or have verified through experience. While our shop is small, we are confident you will be able to find something you love.
Our Story
