Maui artisans abound at inaugural county festival

The 100-square-foot lanai of Ruby Makuch’s home in Kihei, Maui, doubles as the factory for exfolicare, the soap-making company that she founded six years ago.

"You need to be in a well-ventilated area when you’re working with lye," she said. "What better place than outside with a view of beautiful palms, flowers and a bit of the West Maui mountains?"

Makuch started out by making melt-and-pour soaps from a craft store whenever she had spare time. That hobby grew into a business that now produces at least 400 bars of soap per week.

She doesn’t have any employees; she makes the soap, and her husband, Dave, helps her cut, label, pack and clean up. They’re hands-on with some aspect of soap making on their cozy lanai at least four hours every day except Sunday.

"I realized if I were going to sell soap, I had to make it from scratch so that I could have control over the process and could guarantee a quality product," Makuch said. "I also realized that to stand out, I had to be different, so I focused on exfoliating, which removes the dead cells on the top layer of the skin. Doing that unclogs pores, stimulates circulation and leaves the skin soft, smooth and with a healthy glow."

She molds spongy loofah, which grows on a vine like cucumber, onto some of her soaps. Products with fun names such as Haiku Hippie, Beach Daisy and Surf & Turf are infused with other gentle yet effective natural exfoliants, including black sand; red clay; turbinado sugar; Hawaiian sea salt; ground papaya seeds, coconut shells and macadamia nut shells; and dried mint leaves, hibiscus petals and lemon, lime, pomegranate and orange peels.

"Foodies know the term ‘farm to table,’ which refers to the freshest, highest-quality products to nourish their bodies," Makuch said. "I describe exfolicare as ‘farm to soap,’ which does the same thing for their skin."

Her success story is one of dozens that will be shared at the inaugural Made in Maui County Festival (MIMCF). Spotlighted will be a wide array of food, art, crafts, jewelry, books, clothing, decorations, health and beauty products and more that reflect the creativity and commitment of more than 130 entrepreneurs from Maui and Molo­kai.

Nicknamed the Maui Dirty Girl, Therese Tice paints with 72 different colors of dirt that she has collected on those two islands. Jennifer Throne, a former architectural model maker, fashions a whimsical menagerie of mice, dogs, cats, pigs, horses, elephants and other creatures from ipu (bottle gourds). Photographer Scott Mead prints his spectacular scenes on glass, canvas, aluminum, metallic paper and sugar cane paper.

"Whenever I go on vacation, I seek out locally made merchandise at farmers markets and art-and-craft shows," said Teena Rasmussen, director of Maui County’s Office of Economic Development. "The Made in Maui County Festival is a wonderful event for anyone who’s like me — who appreciates quality, imaginative, handcrafted artisan goods and wants to see what our county has to offer. It’s a win-win situation. Consumers, retailers and wholesalers from throughout the state can find exciting new products, and our businesses can make valuable connections with a host of potential new customers."

MIMCF is patterned after Oahu’s popular Made in Hawaii Festival, which, launched 20 years ago, attracts 35,000 people annually. "There are such talented, hardworking entrepreneurs in Maui County, but not all of them can afford to go to Oahu to participate in the Made in Hawaii Festival," Rasmussen said. "The Made in Maui County Festival makes it more affordable and convenient for them to boost sales and awareness of their wares right here at home."

To qualify for participation in MIMCF, companies’ headquarters must be on Maui, Molo­kai or Lanai. In addition, following Made in Hawaii’s criterion, products must be at least 51 percent valued-added in Hawaii.

"That means at least 51 percent of their wholesale value must be derived from Hawaii through manufacture, assembly, fabrication or production," Rasmussen said. "Local labor, local raw goods or designs that were created here could all add to that Hawaii value."

MIMCF’s selection committee also considered product mix, quality and uniqueness when they chose the vendors for the inaugural event. Ruby Makuch is thrilled to be part of that elite group. "The festival is going to give exfolicare the kind of exposure I’ve been hoping for to take it to the next level," she said. "It could be the catalyst that helps us to really grow."

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

8:30-8:45 a.m.
How to Make the Perfect Cup of Coffee (MauiGrown Coffee)

9-9:15 a.m.
Do You Know Your Pohole (fern shoots)? (Hana Herbs & Flowers)

9:30-9:45 a.m.
Cooking Healthy (Life Foods)

10-10:15 a.m.
What Makes a Sumo Dog? (Sumo Dogs)

10:30-10:45 a.m.
Learn to Make Okonomiyaki (Japanese street pancake) (Maui Fresh Streatery)

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Fashion show (various companies)

12:45-1 p.m.
Cool off with Almond Milk Chai (joy’s place LIVE!)

1:15-1:30 p.m.
Book readings by Tom Peek ("Daughters of Fire") and Jill Engledow ("Haleakala: A History of the Maui Mountain")

1:45-2 p.m.
Color Your Own Maui T-Shirts (Color Your Own)

2:15-2:30 p.m.
Benefits of Vog Off! and Smoke Off! (Maui Homeopathy)

2:45-3 p.m.
Book reading by Wayne Moniz ("Pukoko: A Hawaiian in the American Civil War")