Rowena's Produce

"Rowena's specializes in Filipino foods and ingredients, also sporting a mini market. I'm always on the hunt for a bargain and like to support local so I finally popped in to check them out. THE STORE: They're located in a tiny shared warehouse space at the corner of Hana Highway and Wakea Avenue across the street from the Jim Falk car dealership. Parking is plentiful. EXPERIENCE: Other than the heat, the thing that hits you is the strong smell of fruits that are on display. While they all looked fresh, the overbearing scent of very ripe or even rotting fruits in the hot space was not very inviting. If you've ever been to the Maui Fair and went into the War Memorial Gym to the Better Living event on the third day and walked near the decaying fruits and swirl of fruit flies - that's how it was, LOL. To be fair, if you're in the market for dragonfruit, they sell it here! I was on the hunt for some fresh veggies and their selection was very minimal. They have a small beverage refrigerator minimally stocked with hand-packaged veggies but nothing that I wanted, such as snow peas and lettuce. The appearance of it all and visions of human-handling especially during this pandemic just turned my stomach. Other items for sale were Filipino and Asian spices, ingredients, snacks, a few familiar canned goods and refrigerated/frozen foods. An odd for-sale item I noticed were quart-sized Ziploc bags containing frozen chicken wings, like they bought a big bag at Costco and repackaged them in unmarked bags. Eh, no thank you. TIP: Unlike other Filipino markets on the island, these guys do not serve any hot foods to-go. OVERALL: Strong on the ingredient & fruit offerings, not so much on the veggies."

"Visited this local grocery and produce store per recommendation on the net. During winter time, they also sell tropical fruits but the taste and quality is not as flavorful as in summer time."

"Extremely rude salesperson. She had green coconuts out, all the stickers were $4. We had a customer help pick out a green one (in front of salesperson), and at the register she rings it up for $5. When we inquired she rudely just took the coconut back. No explanation, just mumbled something about "customer". Very disappointed in the experience, not going back. It's not just the $1, it's the dishonesty and inability to explain why this unmarked one was more expensive than literally every other one in the same basket."

"Visited Rowena’s looking for local avocados that are a reasonable price. Found them there and they were huge. Great price and service."

"Daily supply of local grown produce. Mostly Asian food products. I purchase here weekly rather than the grocery stores. Inexpensive and FRESH. Mahalo"