Bakery founded by former Laie residents and BYUH employees Jolene and Shawn Keli’iliki brings flavors of the islands to Utah
Founded by longtime Laie locals and retired BYUH employees Jolene and Shawn Keli’iliki, Budda’s Bakery & Breakfast in Pleasant Grove, Utah, recently had its grand opening, attracting crowds that stretched around the block, according to KSL TV.
Jolene Keli’iliki, her friends and BYU–Hawaii alumni reflected on the journey to make this new bakery a reality and the power food has to gather people who are far from Hawaii.
Blessings of Budda’s
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening of Budda’s Bakery was delayed to April 17, 2023, said Jolene Keli'iliki. Each day during the first week it was open, the bakery sold out. The popularity of Keli’iliki’s food prompted her to double the amount of food made for each day. Even when she did, the bakery still sold out, making her shorten the bakery’s hours to between 6 a.m. and noon on Tuesdays through Saturdays.
“We feel very humbled at the success we’ve had this [first] week,” she said, adding how she feels a big part of the store’s appeal was the freshness of their products. “We make everything from scratch, and we bake fresh every morning.
“It’s not really ours,” Keli’iliki continued. “I feel that the Lord has more in store for us with this establishment,” which she said could potentially include feeding those in need and how they needed to be prepared for such a time.
Keli’iliki said, “I have to do the Lord’s work first if I’m going to be successful. He’s opened so many avenues for us, and we feel so blessed.” She said she and her husband had no choice but to allow the Lord to bless them.
Keli’iliki said the bakery's budda roll, which she and her siblings grew up with, is very special to her. She recalled going to the now-closed bakery that was located next to Tamura’s in Hauula. “They made all their own stuff, and it was so good.”
Keli’iliki said the budda roll, her signature item, continues to be the bestseller at her bakery, featuring flavors of coconut, taro and lilikoi. Keli’iliki said her husband came up with the idea for the name, while she designed the store’s logo. She explained “Budda” is pidgin English for “butter.”
She added Budda’s is pronounced “Bud–duhs,” not Buddha, but, she said, “you will look like a Buddha if you eat too many Budda’s.”
Jeannie Soliai, Keli’iliki’s cousin and BYUH campus’ safety and risk manager, said she was excited to see her cousin’s dream fulfilled. “When she finally opened [the bakery] up, I was elated for her. I was very excited for her because what better person could that happen to? For all that she’s given to everyone, she deserves it.”
According to Soliai, Keli’iliki has fed everyone and anyone who came to her door. “She’s got a heart of gold. A pure soul of love. She’s just full of love.”
Building up Budda’s
Born and raised on Iosepa Street in Laie, Keli’iliki was employed at BYUH for 29 years. She worked in the Department of Human Resources for 20 years, followed by nine years working in what is now the Faculty of Education & Social Work before she retired.
The idea for the bakery started when she and her husband were applying for jobs after moving to Lehi, Utah. Keli’iliki said nothing was working out quite how they wanted. She said she then told her husband, “I’m done working for people.”
She started baking pastries in her home in Lehi in August 2020. Soon she had so many orders for her food, she said she asked her husband if he would be willing to sell their home so she could have enough money to start her business, to which he said yes.
Soliai said she would describe Keli’iliki as having a “very bubbly personality.” She said, “I mean, it’s hard not to like her. She’s very cheerful, very talented, and musically inclined.”
While living in Laie, Soliai said Keli’iliki founded and ran a choir called Musical Truth. It was made up of close friends and family who performed music Keli’iliki wrote herself. “She would sing at firesides, sing wherever she was asked to go. Her music is well–known in Laie.”
Soliai said, “She’s one of those who enjoys serving people. She will go out of her way to help anyone in whatever capacity that she can.”
In Utah, Keli’iliki said she has established a choir to bring people and their talents together, recreating what she did in Hawaii.
The food
When Keli’iliki retired, Soliai said she was very happy for her. “She’s been looking forward to it. … I knew that her passion wasn’t always just working [at BYUH]. She loved baking, … and she always talked about someday owning her own bakery.”
Soliai added every now and then, Keli’iliki would mention her dream to own a bakery. Whenever the HR staff would have a get-together, Soliai said she would experiment with her baked goods, testing what worked for their taste buds. “For her, that was her passion. She loved baking and cooking for others,” Soliai explained.
Melinda Pike, a BYUH alumna from Laie who graduated with a degree in marketing in 2013 but now lives in Utah, recently had the opportunity to visit Budda’s Bakery.
Pike said the taro rolls sold at Budda’s Bakery were the best she had ever had, and the bakery allowed her to introduce many of her coworkers to Hawaiian cuisine.
“I was really excited as a BYUH alumna and as someone who lived on the island for 10 years to share my love for Oahu and the local Laie community, the culture,” Pike shared. “Some of my favorite pastimes and treats on the island were eating taro rolls with my kids, and so it was really cool to share that with my office and see their reactions.”
According to Pike, a lot of her coworkers were initially not sure if they would like taro, but after trying the rolls, they said they planned on taking their families to Budda’s Bakery.
“Everyone was commenting about the texture being [similar to] air, like biting into a cloud. They commented that the flavor was something they had never tried before. It really opened their eyes.” Pike also provided a positive review for the breakfast sandwiches, saying she couldn’t stop eating them because they were so good.
A gathering place
With her voice full of emotion, Keli’iliki talked about the blessings she saw from the Lord as she worked to open her bakery. When people walk through their doors, she said she wanted everyone to feel “that it’s like a sanctuary, and it’s a home. … When we walk through these doors, we feel aloha.” Their mission statement is short and simple, she said. It is, “‘Welcome to our home, where aloha is the key ingredient in everything that we create and gratitude is our key to success.’”
Although she did not know Keli’iliki personally, Pike said she knew of her from her time in Hawaii. When she entered the bakery and said where she was from, Pike said she got a big hug from Keli’iliki.
“I felt like crying when I walked in,” Pike said. “I felt home, because we [her and her family] had to leave the island in 2020 due to COVID, and it was very heartbreaking. … [This] was probably the first time since I left the island that I’ve felt home. ... Truly, when you walk in the door, you feel like you walk into a family that knows you really well already.”
As customers ordered, Pike said she heard everyone telling the employees at the register of their own personal connections to Hawaii and its food.
“There are a lot of people from the island and from Laie here in Utah County, but I felt like when I moved here, there wasn’t really a gathering place for locals and people I love, especially from the Laie community.” Pike said she feels like Budda’s Bakery is a gathering place, explaining, “One thing that I noticed as soon as I walked in the door was [the] familiar faces and [the] big sign that said Iosepa Street.”
Overcoming obstacles and planning for the future
Facing the pandemic and other oppositions, Keli’iliki said, “A lot of people asked us, ‘You still wanna open your bakery?’ My husband and I still felt good about it.” She added, “You won’t know till you try, right?”
Keli’iliki shared, “My husband said, ‘Are you sure you wanna do this?’ I said, ‘Well either we find jobs, work again for people, or we do this.’ And he said, ‘Okay.’”
“It’s hard work, but we’re our own boss,” Keli’iliki said. She shared one of the difficulties of running a business in its infancy is the hours she has to work, starting at 1 a.m. “It’s hard work. You answer to yourself, but we’ve been so blessed. I can’t really think of any [other] difficulties now.”
Keli’iliki said the bakery sometimes faces unhappy customers who drove from far away to try their food but got there when it had sold out.
Looking ahead to the future, Keli’iliki shared she has received several offers to franchise Budda’s Bakery & Breakfast. “My only fear is the quality. I don’t want to sacrifice the quality of my product. … I want consistency.”