Our Story

Brandon and Poni Askew started Hawaiian Vinegar & Spice Company in 2010 out of a simple, stubborn idea: Hawaii grows extraordinary fruit, and too much of it never makes it off the farm.

Before vinegar, Brandon and Poni spent years building community through food — organizing the "Eat the Street" food truck events that brought together local makers and eaters across Oahu. That work taught them something: the best food tells the truth about where it comes from. When they turned their attention to fermentation, they brought that same belief with them.

It is still just the two of them, working out of Wahiawa, doing everything by hand.

Rescued Produce, Reinvented

Hawaii's farmers grow more than they can sell. Fruits that don't meet the cosmetic standards of grocery buyers — too small, too curved, slightly blemished — get left behind. We rescue that produce, the kind with flavor the market never sees, and turn it into something worth tasting.

Our partners include Kualoa Ranch, Waialua Growers, and Loko 'Ea Farms. The salt in our shrubs comes from Haleiwa Salt Company. The sugar cane wine we ferment comes from Kohana Rum. Every ingredient has a name and a place.

How We Make Vinegar

We are the only vinegar company in Hawaii doing authentic double fermentation with rescued local fruit, and the process takes time.

Rescued juice becomes wine over two weeks of active fermentation, then settles for another four. That wine becomes living vinegar — brewed for two to three weeks, then aged for three months or more. From rescued fruit to finished bottle, a single batch takes roughly five months.

The result is raw, unfiltered vinegar with live probiotic cultures and "the mother" intact. Our shrubs follow a different path — herbs and roots slow-steeped with vinegar, then blended with cane sugar and fresh juice. No shortcuts, no artificial additives.

What's in the Bottle

Because we depend on what local farmers are rescuing, our flavors follow Hawaii's seasons. Our Black Garlic and Cacao Nectar vinegars have become favorites for cooking and sipping. Among our shrubs — Pineapple Mint, Basil Ginger, Meyer Lemon Mint Cardamom, Lavender Lemon, and Salted Lemon — keep finding their way into people's refrigerators and staying there.

Where We Are Now

For a few years we ran The Vinegary, a tasting room in Wahiawa where we poured samples and talked story with anyone curious enough to walk through the door. In 2026 we made the decision to close the retail space and focus entirely on production and wholesale — because more people should be able to find these products, and that means growing our distribution instead of our foot traffic.

Find Our Products

Browse our full selection below, or reach out if you are a retailer or restaurant interested in carrying our products. Mahalo — every bottle sold supports the farmers who grow the fruit that makes it all possible.

Mahalo nui loa.

— The Hawaiian Vinegar Company Team