Big Island Weekly

If you know historic downtown Honoka’a, you know Simply Natural Ice Cream & Sandwich Shop. For 18 years, Simply Natural has served its Taro Pancakes and Spicy Tuna Melts, among many other popular dishes, and like most small business Americans, the owner is out of financial time. Owner Elizabeth Sanders has named a deadline of January 31, 2012 to transform her restaurant into a community kitchen or face the reality of closing her doors. As an alternative to going out of business, the need within the community for a certified kitchen to prepare, store and/or bake food products intended for Farmer’s Markets or fundraiser-type events, as well as for those with food service wagons, may create a new opportunity.

Kim Erg, director of the Hamakua Incubator Kitchen confirms the need for a community kitchen within the specificities of Simply Natural’s Cold Prep Certification.

Erik Honda of the State Department of Health confirmed Simply Natural’s specificities, which included closing the existing retail restaurant in order to focus completely on community kitchen type of practices.

“Everybody is feeling the pressure to make it these days. I am not any more special than anyone else out here working our best to keep this Hawai’i Island economy going and I say we are courageous for doing so. Every cash dollar counts nowadays like when I first had this place fourteen years ago post sugar and macadamia nut. It was real quiet like it is now. Even within the limitations of a cold prep certified kitchen I think turning this place into a community kitchen is a brilliant idea in which benefits for everyone will exceed what I am currently creating. I want to support entrepreneurialism, Hawai’i Island sustainability, and farmers. I also want to succeed. Instead of closing entirely I’d rather rent the space out like any other community kitchen type of situation fair and square. We can do our best to make it in this Island’s economy and survive this economic crunch rather than wasting an entirely beneficial situation. If you have an idea, now would be a good time to make that product in a certified kitchen. I have a feeling this is going to be fun.”

Please call Elizabeth Sanders at Simply Natural at 775-0119 as soon as possible to schedule your time slots.