Born in Cape Town, Kauai has evolved into a global leader in the healthy fast-casual dining space, serving up natural, wholesome food to customers worldwide. With a presence spanning continents, Kauai’s footprint now extends to Thailand, Scotland, Ireland, and Holland, solidifying its position as a trailblazer in the international health food market.
Kauai’s remarkable success has shattered the notion that healthy fast food is a niche market, demonstrating instead that wholesome, quick dining resonates broadly with consumers from all walks of life, making wellness accessible to the masses.
BACKGROUND
Kauai was launched in 1996 as the brainchild of 3 friends who had previously lived on the Hawaiian Garden Isle of Kauai.
These 3 friends — John Berry and brothers Carl & Brett Harwin —were running a bottled juice company while living in tents in a papaya field, but also shared a dream of one day opening a sandwich and smoothie shop.
Their dream became a reality after a visit to South Africa.
Their business was slowly gaining momentum when they travelled to Cape Town for Carl’s wedding to a Capetonian, which was followed by a holiday of surfing.
They fell in love with the city and decided to stay. But after a while, they realised that when they wanted to “go down the road” to buy some food, there weren’t any healthy options available
“After being here for a few days, we noticed that we couldn’t find the types of food – healthy juices, smoothies and so on that we were used to back home.”
“When we were hungry, all we could find were pizzas, burgers and fried chicken. We were surprised that nobody was providing a healthy, convenient food and drink offering in South Africa…the market was here but not the offering.”
In 1996, they decided to move their juice business from Kauai to South Africa and evolved it into an outlet in Cape Town that sold a range of healthy sandwiches.
“We wanted to share the unique warmth and Aloha spirit of the island and all its beauty and amazing flavours with the people of South Africa and beyond. We were driven to make the healthiest, freshest juices and smoothies to improve and inspire the lives of people.”
By following their dream to launch a healthy fast-food outlet, they created a retail concept that has become a success story. In the early days, Kauai consisted of only 3 outlets in Cape Town, and today there are over 200 outlets all over the country and beyond.
In mid-2015, Kauai was acquired by Real Foods — a food group with unmatched dedication to healthy and natural foods —ending the journey of 3 friends who were inspired on a trip to Hawaii, and launched the first Kauai store 26 years ago in the city of Cape Town.
