How Kanahele Krunch Came to Life

A question I get all the time is: How did you come up with Kanahele Krunch?

The truth is, Kanahele Krunch started with a need I couldn’t quite find anywhere else. Last summer, while training for a Boston Marathon qualifier and chasing a big time goal, and a local 50k, I wanted a snack that felt light, energizing, crunchy, and delicious. Something I could eat before a run, after a surf, on a road trip, or honestly just standing in my kitchen.

Traditional granola always felt too heavy for me. I didn’t love how it sat in my stomach during runs, and so many “healthy” snacks still felt overly processed or weighed down with ingredients I didn’t really need. I wanted something simpler.

Growing up, coconut baked in agave was always one of my favorite snacks. Sweet, crispy, warm, comforting. That became the starting point.

But the first versions of Kanahele Krunch weren’t quite the perfect on-the-go snack I had imagined. The original coconut-and-agave recipe tasted amazing, but it was too sticky to toss in a bag and take anywhere. So, I started experimenting.

I filled 120 pages of my notebook with recipe attempts and brand stories.

Different baking temperatures. Different bake times. Banana flour. Coconut flour. More agave. Less agave. Different oils. Different textures. Some batches burned. Some turned too chewy. Some fell on the floor. Eventually, I landed on coconut sugar — which ended up being the missing piece. It helped cut the stickiness, added the perfect touch of sweetness, and kept the recipe lower glycemic. Slowly, batch by batch, Kanahele Krunch started becoming what I had imagined in my head all along.

Then came the taste tests.

For weekends straight, I’d bring bags everywhere and make friends and family try different versions.

At one point, I labeled each recipe with a symbol instead of a name:
a star
a smiley face
a peace sign
a sun
and a moon.

I’d sit there taking notes while everyone sampled all five. And there was one clear winner every single time: the star. That became the recipe.

But Kanahele Krunch was never just about creating a snack. It was also about creating something that felt connected to where I come from. The name Kanahele comes from my great-grandmother, Annie Kanahele, who was a teacher and principal in Hawai’i for over 42 years. Keeping the Hawaiian language and culture in schools was a battle she fought through consistent advocacy and implementation in her schools.

Giving back has always been a huge part of what I wanted this brand to stand for in honoring my great-grandmother, which is why a portion of Kanahele Krunch supports ʻAha Pūnana Leo, an organization dedicated to revitalizing and preserving the Hawaiian language through education and immersion schools. Supporting the continuation of Hawaiian language and culture feels incredibly meaningful to me, especially as Kanahele Krunch grows beyond just an idea in my kitchen.

Looking back now, it’s funny to think how many little moments led here: late nights testing recipes, sticky hands, handwritten notes, friends crowded around kitchens giving opinions, marathon miles, surf checks, and countless bags of “almost.”

Kanahele Krunch was built slowly, imperfectly, and with a whole lot of love, and I think that’s my favorite part about it. 🥥