Great Ideas for children: Local sisters lilikoi butter gets award

Lilikoi butter takes top spot

Two sisters from Laie win first place in the Young Entrepreneurs category of Great Ideas

BY KARLY BROWN

Locals 18 and younger competed in one out of the four categories of the annual BYU-Hawaii Great Ideas competition presenting their start-up business ideas that are also eco-friendly. Zalea and Thea, ages 9 and 12, were representatives of their family's business, Laie Lilikoi Butter. The girls took first place in the competition, according to the Great Ideas Competition page. They make a unique lilikoi butter from home and have been selling it to friends and family, but they said they want to take the next step in their business. “We have a lilikoi tree in our backyard and made our own butter one day and knew

Holding the check are children from a local Laie family who started a lilikoi butter business that is eco-friendly because when customers bring back their empty jars they get $1 of the price of a refill. Photo by Sugarmaa Bataa

we had to share,” said Zalea. The sisters explained Lilikoi is their favorite fruit but couldn't find what they wanted on the market so they made their own. The younger sister, Thea, said her favorite family activity is when they all come together to make their butter. The little jars are $5 a jar, and when people bring the jar back empty, they can get a refill for one for just $4 because they want to reuse the glass jars to make an environmental impact.

Joel Stephens and Dax McCloy, both in 7th grade, also competed. Their start-up company is a service that provide high-quality beach products right at the beach, explained Stephens. The stand includes waterproof phone cases, towels, reef-safe sunscreen and many other beach essentials that people might have forgotten. Their company is unique McCloy said, because “if customers bring back plastic waste they found on the beach, we will give them a 10 percent discount on their purchase.”

The young entrepreneurs explained their upbringing in Laie has taught them to care for the environment and has motivated the “why” to their business. However, Stephens and McCloy did not make it to the final round of the competition, says the Great Ideas website. Olivia Moana who is 10 years old has created beach plastic earrings from waste she finds on the beach. The little stud earrings are only $5 and come in a variety of colors and shapes that don't look like they were made from trash. Moana said reusing plastic became important to her when she learned “out of all the plastic we've made, only 9 percent has been recycled.”

Just last week Moana said her father found a turtle dead on the beach with a plastic bag over his head. She said she hopes her jewelry can make a difference in cleaning up the environment. The Great Ideas Competition page stated Moana also did not place in the final round. •