HILO, Hawai‘i — After seven weeks of hard work, dedication and faith, Nikki Kawahine is nearing the finish line of her mission: making 30,000 macarons for the upcoming Made in Hawai‘i Festival on O‘ahu.
Born and raised in Hilo, Kawahine has always loved baking and began selling her sweets from her two-bedroom house several years ago. When her cupcakes “boomed” in popularity in 2013, she knew it was time to take a risk.
Kawahine opened Cupcakes, Boom! in the Manono Marketplace nearly 10 years ago and has continued to make cupcakes, French macarons, stuffed cookies, cakes and more from scratch throughout the decade. The bakery has endured many ups and downs but has remained busy due to a supportive community.
After honing her craft and forming a team of hardworking employees, Kawahine is ready to take things to the next level.
“I’m a mother of three and living my dream of serving the community I was born and raised in. I never thought that it would be possible for me to get here,” Kawahine said. “Now with the Made in Hawai‘i Festival in two weeks, I’m walking by faith and trusting that this is the next step for Cupcakes, Boom!”
Hosted by the nonprofit Hawai‘i Food Industry Association, the Made in Hawai‘i Festival on O‘ahu provides an opportunity for island businesses and companies to market themselves and their products to retail buyers and consumers.
Macarons can be cold-stored for about six months, making them the perfect candidate for the festival. After calculating her daily sales and looking back at past festivals, Kawahine came to the conclusion that 30,000 macarons would do the trick.
“We really don’t know what will happen. I could sell out in the first two days, or I could be bringing 15,000 macarons back to Hilo,” Kawahine said. “We make about 12 to 14 batches each day, which comes out to about 1,000 macarons a day. In between everything, the staff is multitasking: helping customers, answering the phone and keeping the shop stocked.”
Overall, the bakery will spend about eight weeks hand-mixing and hand- piping the 30,000 macarons. Throughout the two months, the bakery has continued its normal operations, often selling 100 to 200 cupcakes, 200 to 300 macarons and 30 to 40 stuffed cookies per day as well as making custom orders.
On Thursday, the team was finishing the last of the cotton candy-flavored macarons for Made in Hawai‘i and taking them to Island Cold Storage in Kea‘au to be stored alongside about 25,000 other macarons.
“Luckily, I do have people helping me to cold-store the macarons before shipping them to O‘ahu, but this is a huge investment sitting in storage. There were no savings for this, so all of the supplies and labor is coming from the shop,” Kawahine said. “All we can do is hope it works out and have faith that this investment will turn into sales and growth.”
During her first Made in Hawai‘i Festival, Kawahine hopes to put the Cupcakes, Boom! name out there for wholesale opportunities with larger companies and distributors so she can reach more people outside of Hilo.
“(My team and I) are ready and working together on this to see if we can grow outside of Hilo and reach a larger scale of people,” Kawahine said. “I want to show everyone what a born-and-raised Hilo girl with no education can do with only faith over fear.”
Kawahine has made sure to document the journey to 30,000 macarons by posting regularly on social media apps Instagram and TikTok. The content has garnered support from the community, with many people posting positive messages to the team.
“My values and the values of Cupcakes, Boom! has and always will be God, family and community,” Kawahine said. “While I can be a cheerleader for myself, I need my community, and I am so grateful for their support behind me and the support of my family and team beside me.”
Cupcakes, Boom! is on target to reach 30,000 macarons by Wednesday, just in time to be shipped Thursday.
A friend on O‘ahu will receive the sweets from Kawahine and cold-store them until she arrives on Aug. 22.
The Made in Hawai‘i Festival will be at the Hawai‘i Convention Center from Aug. 23-25. For more information, visit madeinhawaiifestival.com.
