Kapolei woman turned her pandemic hobby into a small business and an homage to her Hawaiian roots

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Keala Souza created her small business, Hawaii Bread Co., out of her Kapolei home during lockdown and looked to her own Hawaiian culture for inspiration.

Souza has a background as a hula dancer, but before baking, she worked as a flight attendant for Hawaiian airlines for 9.5 years. During the time she traveled the world, she found a love for classic Parisian baked goods, but she noticed an opportunity to bridge a gap between traditional French baking and her Hawaiian culture.

“When you think of a bakery, you think French, European, and I really wanted to show that Hawaiians can hold space, Hawaiian flavors, Hawaiian textures, can really hold space in a place where you wouldn’t normally see or think of Hawaii.”

Her baking journey began as a means of keeping her family healthy and sustainable during the pandemic. “It was something born out of a bad time for all of us,” said Souza.

But once she mastered the art of the perfect sourdough loaf, she began to see how she could elevate a simple loaf of bread using Hawaiian flavors and Hawaiian iconography featured in Hawaiian quilting and art to create a delicious multisensory experience.

“When the idea of a bakery really came to mind, I realized I think I’ve found my passion, but how can I honor our culture? How can I honor my culture and share that with Hawaiians? Hawaiian food and flavors can hold spaces in places we weren’t meant to be.”

Beginning with the flavors, Souza has been experimenting with bridging the gap between french bread and Hawaiian flavors, creating items such as: kalo bagels, ulu and māmaki loaves, and even haupia cinnamon rolls.

Souza learned a valuable lesson while traveling through Japan while working as a flight attendant, “you eat with your eyes first,” said Souza.

This inspired a collaboration with Hawaii artist Teddy Kahakii who helped create the Hawaiian-motif stencils and templates for her baked goods and her logo.

But the collaboration doesn’t end here. Hawaii Bread Co. is a family affair. Souza’s husband helps by running the social media for Hawaii Bread Co.; even the kids contribute by acting as quality control.

“My daughter makes sure that whenever I do orders, she has her own loaf. She doesn’t care; she will always say ‘mommy, where’s my loaf?’ And no one is allowed to touch it — that’s hers.”

You can get your hands on her loaves by placing an order through her Instagram direct messages. But Souza encourages anyone who has an interest to try breadmaking themselves — you can get your very own Hawaii Bread Co. sourdough starter kit here.