HONOLULU – Hawaiian Airlines today announced it has become the exclusive airline partner of Mana Up to support the group’s mission to accelerate the growth of island-based retail and food entrepreneurs. The agreement builds on Hawaiian’s longstanding history of sourcing local products to offer guests an authentically Hawaiian travel experience, while helping expand opportunities for companies to gain exposure to a global audience.
“Our flights are the ideal platform to introduce millions of visitors and our kama‘āina to Hawai‘i-made products, but companies often have difficulty scaling their operations to meet our high volume and global supply chain,” said Avi Mannis, senior vice president of marketing at Hawaiian Airlines. “Mana Up can bridge this gap by helping companies adapt their production to the demands of larger businesses such as Hawaiian’s.”
"With growing consumer demand for connection to culture and personal narratives, the door is wide open for authentic Hawai’i products, yet they have only a small share of the multi-billion dollar market. And while top Hawai’i brands generate more than $300 million annually, most struggle to scale beyond a few hundred thousand. Mana Up is going to change that," promises Meli James, Mana Up co-founder along with Brittany Heyd and Michael Cheski.
Through its 12-week accelerator program starting next month, Mana Up will build distribution channels through partners and digital platforms, connect companies to a network of advisors, help craft an attractive narrative for expansion and host workshops. As revenue grows, Mana Up will help companies understand how to meet production demands.
Hawaiian Airlines anticipates the Mana Up program will help it significantly increase the millions of dollars the carrier spends annually on locally made products to serve its guests. Hawaiian features an array of island goods aboard its flights, among them Maui Brewing beer, Ocean Vodka, as well as food from La Tour Bakehouse and Honolulu Cookie Company.
About Mana Up
Mana Up is a new initiative designed to build Hawai’i’s next 100 product companies earning $1 million or more in annual revenue. Mana Up has a 12-week accelerator program offered biannually to enable Hawai’i product entrepreneurs to scale their businesses. Mana Up’s title partner is Kamehameha Schools, also joined by partners Ulupono Initiative, American Savings Bank, Hawaii Technology Development Corporation and INNOVATE Hawaii. Mana Up is located at the historic Dole Cannery, with the support of Castle & Cooke and Dole Plantation as part of their community initiatives to support local Hawai’i products and businesses. For more information and to apply, please visit manauphawaii.com.
About Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian®, the world’s most punctual airline as reported by OAG, has led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past 13 years (2004-2016) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure have placed Hawaiian among the top of all domestic airlines serving Hawai‘i.
Now in its 89th year of continuous service, Hawaiian is Hawai‘i’s biggest and longest-serving airline. Hawaiian offers non-stop service to Hawai‘i from more U.S. gateway cities (11) than any other airline, along with service from Japan, South Korea, China, Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa and Tahiti. Hawaiian also provides approximately 170 jet flights daily between the Hawaiian Islands, with a total of more than 250 daily flights system-wide.
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at HawaiianAirlines.com. Follow updates on Twitter about Hawaiian (@HawaiianAir) and its special fare offers (@HawaiianFares), and become a fan on its Facebook page (Hawaiian Airlines). For career postings and updates, follow Hawaiian’s LinkedIn page.
For media inquiries, please visit Hawaiian Airlines’ online newsroom.
By Chana Lynn,