HANAPEPE — Susan Barretto had been fulfilling orders of all-natural Cocogreen drinks in her commercial kitchen in Kilauea when she realized it was not big enough to store all of the inventory. “I was making 200 drinks a week,” she
HANAPEPE — Susan Barretto had been fulfilling orders of all-natural Cocogreen drinks in her commercial kitchen in Kilauea when she realized it was not big enough to store all of the inventory.
“I was making 200 drinks a week,” she said of her own concoction of coconut water, juices of greens and fruit and self-formulated smoothie powders poured into 16-ounce Mason jars.
This unfortunate situation was a blessing in disguise, for it propelled her to find a larger commercial kitchen — which also happened to have enough space for her ongoing massage and health services as well as retail space to sell her existing line of health food products.
This new spa/natural foods business debuted in the Seto Market building in old Hanapepe town overlooking the placid Hanapepe River on Saturday, with a celebration of music and food.
Barretto had a massage business called Alohaveda in Kilauea for eight years. Her new location has a fully equipped massage room/spa where she performs lomi lomi massage privately taught by lomi lomi kupuna Alan Alapai, as well as professional Ayurveda health consultations and therapies.
In the cold kitchen, she will continue to produce her extensive line of Ayurveda Superfood products, which are a blend of antioxidant herbs, including but certainly not limited to, spirulina, hemp protein and noni powders.
They come in the form of smoothies, herbal teas and food and beauty products, which are already being sold in health food stores on Kaua‘i such as Papayas and Hoku Foods in Kapa‘a, Vim and Vigor in Lihu‘e and Harvest Market in Hanalei. Barretto also sells them wholesale at Kukui‘ula Store in Po‘ipu and may expand to the other Hawaiian islands.
She said while foods that are ingested obviously have a direct impact on your body, many people don’t realize that what they put on their skin also infiltrates their body.
The skin “is just as important as the stomach,” said Barretto.
Her after-sun care product was created as a direct result of her father’s skin cancer. She said his doctors said that it might have easily been a freckle that caused an internal cancer that may have led to his death last year. He was in such an advanced stage, she said, but skin products, as well as massaging and detoxifying herbs, could have played an important role in his health.
She plans to continue making and selling her line of products as well as offer a complete cafe of healthy food items as soon as the Department of Health certifies her commercial kitchen. Currently, Midnight Bears from Hanapepe Cafe is providing vegan, gluten-free and regular sandwiches at the location.
In the retail section in the front part of the building, Barretto is selling her own products but welcomes other wholesome Kaua‘i-made products.
She also is showcasing the artwork of Caylin Spear. Currently on exhibit for a month is the art of 5- to 7-year-old students under the instruction of Mary Nakamura of 10,000 hands.
Barretto also plans to sell fresh farm produce.
She also sells CDs created by her husband, Michael Barretto, an accomplished musician who has traveled with the likes of Taj Mahal of the Hula Blues Band. He is also “a trouble-shooter and a webmaster,” she said.
Just married to him last year, he has been her best supporter and marketer, creating labels for her products and ensuring her presence on the Web, she said. “My product line has increased three times,” Barretto said.
A carpenter by trade, Michael Barretto will be building the commercial kitchen, which follows an impressive heritage. According to a historical write-up posted on the side of the building, “The tiny kitchen there was said to dish up some of the best saimin noodles on Kaua‘i.”
It goes on to say that in 1919, the Seto family purchased the property and finished the two-story addition. Over the years, it has housed a coffee shop/bakery, general store, the Bridge Side Steak House during World War II, a market and a liquor store.
Barretto said Stanley Seto’s business advice to her was simple: “Carry what people want.”
Her diversity of offerings, from massage, cafe and retail store, seems set to carry on the Seto tradition.
• Jane Esaki, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext 257) or by emailling jesaki@thegardenisland.com.
