Rowena's Produce — Local services in Maui

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...

Owner is a cheater!! Be aware!! We caught her!!

Red onion labeled $2.29 but she punched in $2.59. I confronted her on the spot. She said Ok she will refund. I went to pick up the sign showing red onion $2.29. She said ok. Someone put out the wrong sign. She told me to put the sign back. (Trick more people?)

Then she continued to put in the price into the register machine for other stuff really fast. (No barcode, she just punched in the numbers). So if you don’t pay attention here and look at other stuff in the store you will never know what she put.

The bill came out $46.xx. The numbers of the items on the bill more than the numbers of actual items purchased. Again, I asked. She questioned if I’m sure that’s all we purchased.(like we’re stealing?)

She then re-did the calculation one by one slowly. It turned out the bill was actually $29.xx. I was shocked.

She returned me the money by cash since I paid by credit card. But she was really rude and dishonest at the end. What a bad experience. And this was not the first time here that I was charged the price different from the label.

I would not recommend this place to anybody unless you really need something there. Island Grocery Depot is much...

Off the beaten track and tucked inside a mixed retail plaza a mile from the Kahului airport, Rowena’s is the best place for local produce every day. Like an indoor farmers market, Rowena’s has a wide range of local produce including things that you can only get a farm stands - and it’s open every day. The best selections are before noon, but it’s our go to place for papayas as well as fresh fruits. They also have an assortment of Asian groceries. The lighting inside is dim, but for sure the best selection and best prices for fruits and veggies if you want less than a Costco...