As soon as Sven Ullrich took on executive chef duties at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki in fall 2011, he embraced all things local, and then some. He scoured markets for all Hawaii had to offer, from fresh seafood to artisan cheeses to tropical fruit including cheesy mabolos, puddinglike sapotes, mangosteens, jackfruit and dragonfruit, items not common on most local tables.

"It was very interesting for me. I had to try everything, Rainbow Drive-In, all the L&Ls. It’s been very fun and very educational."

A native of Hamburg, Germany, he sampled everything in order to fairly represent Hawaii on his menus.

That early experience has led to a new farmers market that takes place 4 to 8 p.m. Thursdays at the Hyatt. Ullrich said the aim was twofold. Early on, it was difficult for him to find unique local products, but since the market started, "People come and see me. We just got this incredible Kona Coffee Butter, and I had never heard of this guy."

The chef selects purveyors whose locally made products he loves and who aren’t widely known, understanding that these artisan food companies could use a boost to make their efforts sustainable.

At first there was some pushback from hotel retailers who feared that the market — which takes up the entire ground-level Great Hall — would disrupt foot traffic to their stores.

In fact, the opposite has happened.

"If you want to attract people, you offer food. It’s the atmosphere, the smell that stops people passing by and makes them think, ‘I got to try this,’" Ulrich said. "The shops have experienced huge walk-in business and now ask if we can offer the farmers market on more days."

The Hyatt is also starting a boutique project of its own, introducing an apiary housing 20,000 honeybees, which by summer may result in enough honey to serve in its restaurants and to make available at the farmers market.

"We’re working on the bottles and labeling now," Ullrich said. "It’ll be 100 percent sustainable for the hotel."

Here are some of the vendors:

Buk Buk Kitchen: A classic barbecue pork or chicken plate is $8. It also offers kalua pork sliders at $3 each or two for $5.

Champa Thai: Offers yellow, red and green curries for $6; papaya or beef salads for $5; and avocado, shrimp or tofu summer rolls for $5.

Imu Style: A $10 kalua pig plate includes rice, chicken long rice and lomi salmon. There’s also a laulau option and, for those who want to skip the heavy meat, a $7 chicken long-rice plate with rice and lomi salmon.

Kalihi Corner: Tiffany Bracero offers her local specialties ($8 per plate), including hamburger steak, beef stew, stuffed pork chops, and shoyu pork with turnips and black mushroom, enlivened with a touch of star anise.

Kona Coffee Butter: This butter spread ($10 a jar) made in Waimanalo by Eric "Fats" Gaspar and his wife, Kahea, is infused with Kona coffee from Kuni Goto. It’s delicious spread on toast, bagels, pancakes, waffles or steak; tossed with cooked pasta and roasted squash; and served with wine over crackers.

North Shore Goodies: One table offers the company’s Waialua hibiscus honey, ranging in price from two 2-ounce "Baby Bear" bottles for $5 to a 24-ounce "Papa Bear" jar for $20. At another table you can sample peanut butters, including coconut and macadamia-honey-coconut flavors; three 10-ounce jars are $20. Also available are syrups, jams, onion mustard and fruit butters.

Primo Popcorn: The company offers more than 100 popcorn flavors, and a couple dozen are at the market on a rotating basis. Some standouts: buffalo wing-flavored "Wild Wings," "Sweeeet Bacon," "Thai Curry," award-winning "Raging Crab" and "Dah Haawaiian" combination of Hawaiian chili pepper and sea salt. Savory flavors are $3.75; candied, $5.75; chocolate combos, $8; and "CoFuriShew" combo of dark chocolate, furikake, mochi crunch and cashews is $11.50.

Spun Paradise: This yummy cotton candy is made from 100 percent organic cane sugar and contains no additives or dyes. Among flavors are lychee, pineapple, mango, coconut, sea salt caramel, macadamia nut and lilikoi. A 2-ounce container goes for $4. Don’t feel bad about eating it all — it has only 75 calories per container.

Pure sugar cane juice: Lincoln Vo, known here as "the sugar cane guy," runs stalks of cane through a specialized cold-press juicer for a full cup ($4.50) of all-natural juice with a touch of calamansi. According to the Livestrong organization, sugar cane juice keeps glucose levels constant. It’s also an alkalizing drink that decreases acid and is full of essential minerals. I entered the market with a sore stomach from lunch, and the juice settled it.

Sweet Aloha HI: A range of treats like brownies, cornflake cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, plus sugar-free muffins and banana bread, and gluten-free banana/mac nut bread. Prices start at two for $5 for sugar-free muffins. There are also "mochilettes," or miniature mochi, at $1 per pastry cup.

Elsewhere are offerings of malasadas with fruit cream, chocolate or custard fillings at $1.75 a pop; brown sugar smokies; Spanish rolls; and, of course, fruits and veggies from local farms such as Frankie’s Nursery.