Our Story
Kōko Val Hawaiʻi is a locally owned, small family business based in Wailuku, Maui, Hawaiʻi, which creates delicious fruit spreads in various flavors using low amounts of organic cane sugar. Each spread is a healthy alternative to commercially produced jams which usually contain high amounts of sugar.
Koko Val Hawai’i was founded by Claudia B. in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. She wanted to share her love for the beautiful Hawaiian islands by creating products which reflect the Hawaiian lifestyle and its beauty and taste.
Completely rebranded in 2024, Claudia concentrated on refining her jam making skills and created delicious low sugar jams with the purpose to share a culinary delight from Hawai’i.
The brand got its name after Claudia’s daughter Koko Val (short for Kōlea Valentina), who inspired her to become an entrepreneur.
MEET THE CULINARY ARTIST: CLAUDIA
When I was a little girl, I watched my grandmother cooking and canning fruits and vegetables when growing up in Austria and spending my summers in Poland. My family had a big orchard with various fruit trees and and a vegetable garden. To ensure having fruits and vegetables during the cold winters in Europe, we canned whatever we harvested (mostly apples, plums, peaches, cucumbers) in huge glass jars and stored them in the basement. It was a lifestyle - a lifestyle of healthy living and using whatever was given to us by nature.
This experience made me become passionate about how amazing and clever preserving was.
Fascinated by Hawaii's tropical fruits such as Mango, Pineapple and Passion fruit, my mom and I started making jams in my home kitchen on Maui during the COVID19 pandemic. We then enjoyed the freshly made jam on toast or pastries.
To ensure an authentic fruit taste, I experimented using very little sugar in my jams and called it fruit spread to highlight the difference.
Each spread is made with 100 % Organic Cane sugar and is free of preservatives, additives or artificial ingredients.
With many years of work experience and a business degree from Hawai'i Pacific University, I was inspired and determined to start a family business using my passion of preserving fruits.
I spent 4 years living on O'ahu where I met my husband, a Maui native.
To be closer to his family, we moved to Maui in 2016. We have 2 children.
The BRAND
The Koko Val Hawai'i brand stands for high quality fruit spreads, which are made with locally grown fruits, minimal sugar and lots of Aloha. Made in small batches and hand-filled in 6 oz. jars, each flavor is perfect for enjoying or gifting.
IS IT A JAM OR FRUIT SPREAD?
Technically, a jam is called a jam because of its very high sugar content. Since our products are low in sugar, we refer to them as fruit spreads. This means that we use at least a third less sugar than a regular jar of jam. Also we don't ever use High Fructose Corn Syrup or any artificial ingredients in any of our products. The shelf life is approximately 9-12 months.
I hope that you enjoy the exceptional taste of my fruit spreads. Thank you for supporting me and my family with purchasing products from my online shop or from any of the featured retail stores.
ALOHA & Malama Pono
-Claudia & 'Ohana
Our Mission
We want you to feel delighted and satisfied with all our products. All fruit spreads are made in small batches to ensure freshness. It is our mission to support local commerce and sustainability.
We love supporting local farms. Ultimately, we want Hawaii to be a self sustaining & thriving economy
Our Vision
It is our vision that Koko Val Hawaiʻi can become a global Hawaiian fruit brand and that itʻs reputation for origin and quality would reach customers all around the world.
