Colorful roadside food stands have been popping up around Hilo in recent months.
Stocked daily with baked goods and other homemade treats, the stands — which are primarily unstaffed and rely on the honor system for customers to pay for products — have been drawing attention from community members and, more recently, the state Department of Health.
John Kolman, district health officer for 91直播 Island, said over the last year his department has conducted 11 inspections of roadside stands on the island, all of which were last month. Of those investigations, nine resulted in the department issuing cease-and-desist orders due to food code violations, which required sellers to stop their operation until they could show they were compliant with health laws.
Under state law, the sale of certain homemade food items that are considered nonhazardous is allowed without a permit. This includes baked goods such as cookies, brownies and cakes without cream or custard fillings. All that is legally required to sell them is a certificate from a DOH-approved food safety class and labels listing the ingredients and stating the products were made in a home kitchen not inspected by the DOH.
In August 2025, this category was expanded to include other shelf-stable products such as plant-based pickled items like kimchi, as well as salsas, jams and jellies. Kolman said he thinks this may have contributed in part to the recent increase in stands.
“I think when we expanded out a little bit, that gave people some impetus, and it kind of brought it back to the forefront of their mind,” he said.
However, some stands have been selling products that do not fall into this category, such as meat and dairy products. This, Kolman said, is where DOH has been taking action.
“That’s a different type of food product than what a home good is, or a home bakery,” he said. “Those are foods that could have potential to get people very sick, and so we’ve been proactively looking at it through routine inspections or through complaints.”
He said most of the recent inspections were the result of complaints his office received. If stand owners are interested in continuing to sell these types of products, he said they can apply for a special event food establishment permit.
A DOH spokesperson said that for permitting purposes, the department is considering bake stands as special events.
This type of permit has a fee of $100 to operate for the first 20 days of operation and an additional $5 for every day after that, up to 31 days. It also requires that all products that do not fall under the nonhazardous homemade foods category are made in a DOH-certified kitchen.
The DOH spokesperson said there is no limit to the number of times an applicant can apply for the permit, meaning it can be renewed every month, essentially allowing stands to operate year round.
Michelle Kuali‘i, who started Da Ku Stand six months ago with her husband, said a DOH official visited their stand a couple weeks ago. DOH determined that the stand, which sells products from a variety of local vendors including manapuas and ready-to-go matcha and coffee drinks, did not fall under the homemade foods permit exemption.
Kuali‘i said they were then required to apply for a special event food establishment permit to continue selling. Additionally, the permit requires that someone with a food handlers card be on site during the hours of operation.
She said that because her husband is retired, he is able to do this, but acknowledged that many of the people selling food via pop-up stands do not have that capacity — especially if they work full-time or have child care needs — which is one of the draws of the bake-stand model in the first place. She said this is part of the reason they decided to offer space in their stand to other local vendors to drop off their products in the mornings.
“They don’t have to physically be there the entire time it’s being sold,” she said. “There’s one person there, which is my husband … so to drop off and have somebody else take care of it, I think makes it easier for everybody.”
Kauli‘i said she thinks bake stands provide a valuable way for people to make additional income.
“For some people, this is just enough to cover their gas bill, just enough to pay their insurance. It’s not something that’s gonna support us for the rest of our lives, but it’s just that little extra that we need to survive … .” she said. “I know families who they’re surviving off of it because, for some reason or another, a husband just finished surgery and there’s only one income, the daughter is new in college and they have to pay her living expenses. You know, there’s all kinds of reasons why — it’s hard to live in 91直播.”
She said she hopes that DOH and other agencies will keep this in mind in their approach to regulating the stands.
“They gotta set rules. It’s gonna be the Wild West out there, if they don’t…” she said. “(But) I think this is a good thing for our island, so if they can just work with us … don’t make it too hard where it’s impossible, and then everybody has to shut down.”
While many stands opened in recent months, some have been around for longer.
Erin Gale has operated her roadside stand, Kalae Farmacy, in 91直播an Paradise Park since October 2023. She said she wasn’t aware of all the DOH rules until recently and has been working to ensure her stand complies.
“I think that the community wants to see this continue, and I hope that the Department of Health will help us get there,” she said.
She has noticed the increase in the number of stands, but said she doesn’t see it as competition, rather as a growing community that supports each other.
“There’s definitely been a boom. I think there’s one street … that has like three stands literally right across the street from one another,” she said. “We’re not about gate-keeping, and we’re not about competing, because really and truly, the people that we’ve met through this have just been incredible. … We love going to the other stands and supporting each other. That’s what it’s all about.”
Customers like Chantel Perrin also seem to be enjoying the variety and convenience of the stands. Perrin stopped by Da Ku Stand for lunch on a recent Thursday, and while she said it was the first one she ever visited and remains a favorite, she has enjoyed trying out other stands as well.
“I love how everybody kind of has their own thing, whether it’s like Filipino, 91直播an, I love that,” she said. “91直播 is one of the biggest melting pots, so to be able to experience that on the go … it’s a nice way to kind of share the aloha spirit.”
She said she does hot have any health or safety concerns about anything she’s purchased at the stands, but does support some sort of guidelines.
“I think this is a really great concept, it’s really great for our communities here on 91直播 Island, 91直播 statewide,” she said. “I would really like to see this concept incorporated with the Department of Health … just so we can have this, because it’s a really great sense of community and everybody coming together.”
Kolman, the DOH district health officer, encouraged those interested in running a bake stand or other roadside food establishment to check the DOH website for updated information or to just give their local DOH office a call.
“We want to make sure we educate … our job is really public health and safety, not to impede businesses,” he said. “I think these are great opportunities for a lot of people to dip their toes, so to speak, into the industry.”
Email Grace Inez Adams at grace.adams@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
