After nearly 60 years in business, Kanai Tofu will shut down at the end of the month.

Generations of Hawaii families have dined on the company’s Japanese staple foods of tofu, crumbly okara and gooey natto, but the operation at 515 Ward Ave. is being shuttered due to declining sales under Chunou Foods USA Inc. The Japanese-based company bought the former family business about 2 1⁄2 years ago, according to Mark Kaneda. His family bought the company from the founding Kanai family, which started it “at least in the early 1950s.” The Kanedas kept the established brand name.

The Kanedas still own the land under the factory and the adjacent Asahi Grill restaurant.

“Sales are down,” and Chunou is “losing so many accounts,” both in the retail and food-service markets. “They didn’t push enough on it,” Kaneda said.

The transition of tofu from a specialty, ethnic food product to a widely known, almost mainstream super-food has brought competition to locally made tofu, notably from House Foods America Corp., the U.S. subsidiary of the giant, Japanese-based House Foods Corp. Its tofu has a long shelf life due to a pasteurization process not used in the manufacture of fresh tofu, Kaneda said, adding, “The taste is different, though.”

At its peak a decade ago, the Kanai factory had 15 employees, but it is now down to five.

Chunou “didn’t fulfill (its) commitment on the lease,” said Kaneda, so his family will entertain offers from another tofu or other food manufacturer.

Should a tofu-maker not step forward, the facility would be appropriate not for a restaurant, but, say, “someone who wants to make food for 10 to 12 lunch wagons,” he said. “We still have to rent the place.”

Lemons could net sweet plans

A new business plan competition will have teams of students from kindergarteners to seniors in high school see who can create the most successful lemonade stand.

The Lemonade Alley business competition is open to all Hawaii students and will task teams with developing a business plan, a recipe for an alcohol-free beverage using lemons, a marketing strategy and a stand. Each team also will have to pitch its work to a panel of judges.

Honolulu-based businessman Steven Sue, founder of BizGym.com, is heading the competition with others including Michelle Hastings, an economics and entrepreneurship teacher at ‘Iolani School who also is a BizGym coach.

The goal is to teach entrepreneurial literacy to better prepare students for life ahead.

“I think that ultimately these days nobody’s getting the 30-year watch,” Sue said. Kids these days hoping to excel in adulthood need to be “street smart, business smart” and have that ability “straight out of school.”

The competition taps into pop culture, incorporating the Kitchen Stadium concept from “Iron Chef,” with designer makeover shows and “The Apprentice.”

Hawaii colleges and universities also stage business and marketing plan competitions, including some for high schoolers.

Still, John Butler, associate dean for academic affairs at the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaii, welcomed news of Lemonade Alley.

“This sounds like a good exercise,” and not just for students planning to start their own companies, he said. Students will be able to use the knowledge they gain as consumers, investors, “or they may become government officials who have to support economic development. We’re all kind of linked to it.”

The four divisions will be kindergarten to second grade, third through sixth grade, middle school and high school. And each division will have eight booths, for a total of 32 teams competing at the final event at ‘Iolani School Nov. 12. It is timed to coincide with APEC.

A craft fair including 93 craft and information booths also will help underwrite the event, which will benefit the Boy Scouts of Hawaii and the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii. Meanwhile, organizers are seeking corporate sponsorships and individual donors.

Workshops for those interested will be from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday at Koko Head District Park Gym in Hawaii Kai and from 9 to 11 a.m. Sept. 10 at Hale Pono Ewa Beach Clubhouse.

Reach Erika Engle at erika@staradvertiser.com or call 529-4303.