Aloha all! Please see the following message from the founders of Ju-Mui, Jan and Randal Yee. They've put a lot into this business over the years and we can't thank them enough.
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Saying Goodbye
What a glorious ride it's been! Only through our Lord Jesus’ grace that we were able to sell our business: Ju-Mui Hawaiian Li-Hing Ice Pops!!
Owning the business for over 15 years we remember sitting in Waipahu on our living room couch pouring the mix into bags. At that time we were making around 500 ice pops per month. At our last count we were producing approximately 2,000 to 2,700 ice pops per day. The goal was always to help young athletes with their fundraising goals. It began with our own son Jetson as he travelled to various states on the mainland playing club volleyball.
Then in 2012, we received an email from 7-Eleven Hawaii (Russell Ishimoto). We thought it was a prank, but responded anyway. You never know, right? We’re so glad that we returned that life-changing call. At that time, we didn’t have a commercial kitchen, no equipment for expansion, and no employees. All we had was the determination to make it work!
Also a God thing...Randal just started with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs/Business Registration Division. Before he accepted this position, there was an opening with the Honolulu Police Department. Being a retired police reporter with the Honolulu Police Commission, I really wanted Randal to work at the department as well. But, God knew better! Working for DCCA/Business Registration afforded Randal the ability to implement all the paperwork needed to start our business!
Then, with Eight Point Distributor’s guidance, our product landed in 7-Eleven Hawaii, Longs/CVS, Don Quijote, Tamura’s, Times, and many more stores.
Growing up I, Jan, never thought this would happen...having a product in a chain of stores. Looking back, my time being a trainer for McDonald’s really helped me with running our small business. Everything was a learning curve: figuring out the packaging, ordering necessary labels, obtaining the proper UPC codes, coming up with different recipes and correct formulas for the number of products to produce per day.
What a blessing to have met sooo many great people over the years. Knowing that our ice pops helped to raise money for sports teams, schools, churches, anyone who wanted help was such a great feeling! We even met Daymond John of Shark Tank in Las Vegas during one of our trips to the mainland as we continued to advertise our company.
Well we learned a lot, struggled some, laughed and cried through the years, but it was all worth it! Now it’s time for some young bloods to take it to the next level! Jerrin Lawi-an and Chantelle Siador are the perfect couple to help you with your fundraising goals! You can reach them at: aloha@jumuipops.com or 808.265.5480.
God’s best to all!
Randal and Jan Yee