Poni Askew

Founder, Hawaiian Vinegar and Spice Company - Mililani, HI

Poni Askew is a visionary idea generator, community builder, and small business champion who has spent her career creating platforms where food, culture, and entrepreneurship thrive. Rooted in her hometown of Wahiawā, she builds systems that empower local producers, regenerate Hawaii’s food economy, and turn food waste into opportunity.

She is the co-founder of Hawaiian Vinegar & Spice Company, a small-batch vinegar brewery that transforms off-grade produce into premium vinegars and seasonings inspired by Hawaii’s tropical bounty. Alongside her husband Brandon, she’s proving that sustainability can be delicious — and community-led.

Poni first gained recognition as the founder of Street Grindz, the company behind Eat the Street and Honolulu Night Market, which helped catalyze Hawaii’s street food movement and supported hundreds of local entrepreneurs. Her work redefined how community and commerce can come together through food.

She now serves as Director of Economic and Business Resilience at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, supporting Native Hawaiian entrepreneurs and regenerative economic strategies statewide.

Poni’s work is deeply rooted in ike kupuna and the understanding that food has always been a solution — a pathway to both economic resilience and food sovereignty. Through every project, she honors our kupuna’s relationship to aina and carries forward a vision of Hawaii where community, culture, and commerce are nourished together.