Honolulu lawmakers are weighing how Hawaii should treat the leis tourists receive and the supply chains behind them, after reporting that many of the bright-purple orchid garlands sold to visitors are imported rather than grown in the state. The debate is playing out as elected officials consider policies that would both steer purchasing toward locally grown flowers and make the origin of lei ingredients more visible to consumers.
At the center of the discussion is the Hawaiian Council’s goal of promoting locally made leis, especially those made with fragrant flowers. Kuhio Lewis, the group’s CEO, said in the legislative conversation that importing has become a problem for Native Hawaiian businesses and cultural practice, adding that “You don’t come to Hawaii and not at least have a flower or a lei,” and that “For us to now be importing is not good. It’s actually embarrassing.”
Lei-giving is deeply woven into everyday life and official state rituals in Hawaii, where garlands made from flowers, leaves, seeds, or shells have long been associated with Hawaiian people and are used for ceremonies as well as daily occasions, according to a 2002 University of Hawaii paper cited in the reporting. The reporting also describes how, at the start of each legislative session, lawmakers are given leis—sometimes using open-ended strands tied to a cultural tradition the reporting says refers to the umbilical cord—highlighting the garland’s symbolic status for officials.
State Rep. Darius Kila, a Native Hawaiian Democrat from west Oahu, said lawmakers should find ways to honor people through Indigenous cultures by giving lei. Kila sponsored a bill this year that sought two related changes: it would have required that a certain percentage of lei purchased by state officials include flowers grown in-state, and it would have required labels that tell customers where the flowers were grown; that measure failed. A related Senate bill remains alive and would create a work group to study whether local flower growers and lei-makers can meet demand for leis, along with recommendations to protect the local industry.
The Senate bill’s language cited in the report says growing commercialization has led to increased use of imported plant materials and manufactured components marketed with Hawaiian language, imagery, and place names, and that this “may mislead consumers and undermine local growers, lei makers, and cultural practitioners.” The bill’s approach reflects lawmakers’ focus on both consumer understanding and the economic effects on local producers as tourism drives lei purchases.
The reporting describes how some of Hawaii’s most popular lei flowers are not native, including carnations and jasmine, and it traces how lei-makers have relied on nonnative ornamental plants for decades as demand increased with Hawaii’s population and tourism. Kila said he tries to avoid giving orchid lei “specifically the purple Thailand orchid lei” and described shopping in Honolulu’s Chinatown for flowers such as puakenikeni (also known as the “10-cent flower” in local lore), as well as ginger and tuberose.
Chinatown lei sellers described the practical pressures behind the supply. Francis Wong, owner of Jenny’s Lei and Flowers, said “People want pikake,” describing it as a top flower, and said he typically sources aromatic white pikake from a farm in Nanakuli near Kila’s hometown, but that there are seasonal shortages in winter. Wong and his wife, Pickoun Wong, who strings flowers together behind the store, said they also sell Thailand orchids as a cheaper option when local flowers are limited, and Monty Pereira, general manager of Watanabe Floral, said imported flowers help stretch limited local supplies.
Florists opposed to restricting imports argued that state rules could change what consumers are willing or able to buy, particularly for events when leis are expected to be inexpensive and widely available. Pereira, who the reporting says is Native Hawaiian and whose company sells about 250,000 leis a year—roughly a quarter of its business—testified against Kila’s purchasing-parameters bill, saying that restricting imported flowers could reduce overall lei usage rather than strengthen the industry.
Pereira said in testimony and interviews that making imports harder could drive up costs, warning that as suppliers compete for a limited number of lei stands and florists, lei prices could rise sharply. He also cited tariffs affecting the price of Thailand orchids, and he said he worries more people are choosing leis made with candy or ribbons instead of flowers. In remarks included in the reporting, he tied those pressures to affordability, saying the “bigger threat is making it so expensive that the people of Hawaii cannot afford to enjoy something that’s culturally significant to us,” as lawmakers consider what changes, if any, to require.