The founder of Slow Island Food & Beverage Co., Gida Snyder, is celebrated as a woman of color who has built a successful small business. The skillful chef did not grow up craving yuzu kosho, the condiment she has recreated on Kaua‘i to the delight of many. In fact, Gida’s tastes in food when she was growing up did not predict the success she would eventually have as a food entrepreneur. She looks back in amazement to a time she preferred Wonder Bread and sugary peanut butter over the healthy food her mother cooked for her at her childhood home in New Mexico. Meanwhile, her mother was and still is an avid home gardener favoring Native American varieties, such as the blue corn she grinds into flour to make her own tamales. Gida fondly describes her mother as the “most pure farm to table” practitioner, a role the daughter would eventually fulfill beautifully.

Farmers are essential to the food products she creates. Gida delights in their creative labor, calling them “rock stars.” Her friend, Cody Meyer, has amazed her by successfully growing garlic on Kaua’i, and she is thrilled now to have a source for the scapes (the edible stems that shoot out from the hardneck garlic plant) widely used in Asian cuisine. Previously, farmers have been extremely frustrated in their efforts to grow garlic on the islands. Relishing Cody’s triumph, she is quick to acknowledge her “joy having a part in celebrating the hard work that went into it.”

She devotes enormous effort to forming relationships with farmers. As she explained, Hawai‘i does not have large scale, interisland, food hubs, meaning central locations to aggregate local produce do not exist. Therefore, sourcing local ingredients means reaching out to farmers dispersed on different islands. She points out that “different growing seasons” abound throughout Hawai‘i. For example, liliko‘i (passion fruit) might not be available in June on Kaua‘i but may be found on Maui at that time. In finding out who is producing what, when and where, she has good support in Adam Watten. They see “eye-to-eye” and “share the same energy.” They go back to the days when Adam co-founded Hanai Market, along with Collin Darrell and Lyle Cady, where everything in-store was from Hawai‘i. For Hanai, Gida experimented with what she describes as “shelf-stable and refrigerated ready-to-eat products”, leading to the product line she features today. The first of its kind, the all-local grocery has since closed. Adam champions his philosophy of support for local agriculture at Common Ground in Kīlauea as co-director of the Accelerator Program whose stated mission is, “We’re cultivating the next generation of Hawai‘i-based food and beverage entrepreneurs.” Gida was awarded a competitive venture capital grant from the program based on her successful track record with her former business, Gida’s Kitchen, launched in 2018. According to Gida, “The cash portion of the grant from Common Ground was helpful in purchasing some upgraded labelling and bottling equipment and to help streamline the website for scaling online retail sales.” Running her own business helped her develop a model that she took to the next level with Slow Island founded in late 2019. It all started with her desire to utilize the seasonal over-abundance of fruit, sometimes going to waste on the island. Her creative approach to this problem was to create a line of fruit syrups as flavoring for shave ice or “a little something extra” for cocktails. 2019 proved several times over to be a great year for her, also the year her newly created Passionfruit Orange Guava (POG) was selected for an award at the prestigious Bay Area’s annual Good Food Awards.

Lisa Parker and Roland Barker of The Vanillery and Tiny Isle, the latter featuring specialties such as macadamia nut butters, received grants alongside Gida to help their food businesses navigate and survive the pandemic. Through their shared experience, the artisanal food producers developed a close working relationship. The Vanillery supplies the vanilla bean for one of the most popular syrups crafted by Slow Island, Kaua‘i Vanilla Bean Culinary Syrup. The two small businesses cooperate in a number of ways; Gida describes their “sharing shipping costs to bring jars and bottles on pallets.” They also joined together working on a sauce for Nourish Kauai, an organization that provided free meals to the kupuna (elders) at the height of the uncertainties of the pandemic. A mutual admiration society links the local food advocates. Lisa provided a long list of products she admires from Gida’s line, including “all kinds of interesting syrups which can be used for specialty cocktails or shave ice, or to make your own soda and non-alcoholic drinks, or they can be used in sauces and glazes.”

The product most in demand from Slow Island is the Turmeric Orange Passionfruit Wellness Elixir. Some customers report they take it every day, and monthly subillegalscriptions to the product have increased. One customer sets her “turmeric timer” to remind her to take it because she says it helps settle her stomach. Gida and her friends used it for wellness after they took the jab; they decided to combine “shots,” so to speak, the vaccine and a shot of turmeric.

As for the food alchemist herself, she is a fan of her own twist on the Japanese condiment yuzu kosho, traditionally added as a finishing element to a dish to enhance flavor. Elyssa Goldberg for Bon Appetit magazine refers to it “as the closest thing you’ll get to a silver bullet condiment that’ll instantly impart depth.” Gida’s rendition is named Kiawe Nioi Yuzu Kosho, a paste concocted from the yuzu citrus which grows on the Big Island, sea salt from Kona and nioi chili peppers, also known as Hawaiian chili peppers. The peppers have a Scoville Heat Unit measurement of between 50,000 and 70,000; cayenne, known for its heat, has a range of 30,000 to 50,000 and jalapeno, much milder between 2,500 and 8,000. Gida is tapping into some serious heat—the same heat that makes chili pepper water such a curious craving in Hawai‘i. As for the sea salt, it has been carefully selected after Gida researched authentic Hawaiian salt versus salt from elsewhere that had been rebranded as Hawaiian but is actually sourced elsewhere. Kona salt has the distinction of being derived from salt that has been pumped up from 2,200 feet deep in the waters of the Kona Sea on the Big Island. The salt is not only authentically local, but it also originates from pristine waters. A flourish all her own is that Gida hot smokes the salt and chilis; hence, kiawe (mesquite) is part of the product name as the wood used for smoking.

Since tourism abruptly ended with the pandemic, food security has been a paramount concern. A network, which is still expanding, of farmers, food preparers and organizations dedicated to feeding people responded to the emergency. Cooperation is the hallmark of the operation of this new food movement. Nourish Kauai is an exemplar of a new ethic that prioritizes local sourcing. The meal kits the organization provides represent a collaboration among farmers, fishermen, chefs and restaurants. Not only is the final product healthy, but it also tastes the way food should taste on Kaua‘i—food that has been spared the trip of over 2,000 miles from the mainland. One sated recipient of the meal kit expressed his appreciation in memorable terms, “Mahalo nui loa. My tastebuds and stomach were singing songs of joy. So ‘ono. Broke da mouth.” The meaning of mahalo nui loa is thank you so very much, not just a little.

The generous and cooperative spirit of the times is a reflection of Gida’s own, as she is noted for the help she gives to other women trying to make a living in the food industry, whether talking them through a few steps, sharing her kitchen or promoting their products. Dominique Chambers works out of Gida’s commercial kitchen. She owns Cozy Bowl, a small food business on Kaua‘i that specializes in crafting vegan and gluten-free pasta from local vegetables and fruits. ‘Ulu (breadfruit) pasta, anyone, or taro, or moringa? Gida notes, “I’ve been able to help her purchase a new pasta extruder from Italy to help her scale production as she takes on new accounts.” Aspiring to help other women find success, the inventive chef and brainy entrepreneur relishes her place in the emerging local, healthful, creative and cooperative island food community. The keepers of the food traditions of our island are finally gaining the appreciation and recognition they so richly deserve.