Guava Smoked in the News!

Hawaii Strong: Guava Smoked has grit (and meat) to thank for their success

By Mark Carpenter

Published: Feb. 6, 2021 at 11:42 AM GMT+8

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - If you’re a fan of protein, Guava Smoked might suit your needs. Some 600 pounds of meat passes through their smoker on a weekly basis.

Scott Shibuya started conjuring the carnivore’s dream back in 2011 after a decade spent teaching at Kaimuki High School.

“My brother-in-law is from Kauai ... and they hunt and they smoke meat with guava wood,” Shibuya said. “He didn’t really feel like he had a market. I started thinking, so I asked him for the recipe and I started experimenting, tweaked it a little bit and after 10 years in the DOE came up, I quit.”

After starting Guava Smoked and unveiling his product at farmers markets, Shibuya established the first brick and mortar location in Kalihi.

He then eventually moved into a spot along Kapahulu Avenue, which opened a month before the March shutdown.

“We started gaining traction and then COVID came around and I was like, oh my God, what’s gonna happen now?’” Shibuya said. “Ultimately, we just streamlined our process, working longer hours with less people, but we’re making it work.”

Operating within smaller margins, Shibuya had to cut his part-time staff and is working with five full-time employees. Relegated to only takeout, he bolstered the eatery’s outreach in a number of ways, including frozen to-go packs.

“People are just cooking at home more and our product is easy,” Shibuya said.

“I just got to defrost it and saute it whatever, throw it on the grill, boom you’re good already. That and deliveries ― Door Dash, Grubhub, Bite Squad and we got them all and that’s picked up a lot.”

All meats are smoked with wood from the invasive strawberry guava tree, which Shibuya harvests himself. That kind of maximum efficiency is key to his pandemic response.

“Right now, everyone needs the local support because that’s all we got right now,” Shibuya said. “There’s a few tourists out there and they’ve been stopping by, the locals, if your favorite restaurant is out there, make sure you go support them yeah, help them survive.”

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