Felipe Repollo Jr. has been baking at Ted’s Bakery for more than 15 years and has become quite familiar with the history of his workplace.
“Ted’s father, Takemitsu Nakamura, purchased this land in 1956 and started up his own small market called Sunset Beach Store. It was quite a change from the agricultural fields his family had been used to.” Repollo explained how in 1987 Ted decided to change things up a bit. It all started from a competition Ted attended at a hotel in Waikiki.
“Ted brought one of his most famous creations to that event, the Chocolate Haupia Cream Pie. He won the event hands down,” he said. The Chocolate Haupia Cream Pie has become the most popular item Ted’s Bakery has to offer. It was what brought fame to the bakery.
“When I go to Ted’s Bakery, I always go for the macadamia nut cream pie. I never stray from that,” said Siniteke Fotu, a senior studying ICS from Tonga.
“Most people come into our bakery and the first thing they look for is the chocolate haupia,” stated Repollo. “It’s funny to watch the Japanese come in and eat it. They go crazy for it because they love it.”
Repollo said Ted’s Bakery bakes about 900 pies daily. But over the holidays, it is a different story. To keep up with the demand, more than 7,000 pies are baked for holidays, such as Memorial Day, and around 11,000 pies are baked during Thanksgiving and Christmas time.
“People know about us,” said Repollo. “Some days the line goes all the way out of the bakery and into the street. We get a lot of surfers from all over the world when the competitions start.”
Jeff Mellor, a freshman from Washington studying bio-medical sciences, said at Ted’s Bakery looks can be deceiving. “When you first arrive, it looks like a gas station. However, as soon as you walk in, it opens up into a really unique bakery and restaurant.” When asked what type of food he prefers, Mellor replied, “I always go for the chocolate and peanut butter pie. It’s really good.”
Repollo said, “We try new things all of the time; we know if it’s good by how many people buy it. Most of the time it works.” Repollo sometimes creates dishes in the kitchen, and he is very proud of his secret macaroni salad recipe. “Because we like to experiment, there are always new flavors of pie coming out. When Ted’s first opened we had only four types of pies. Now look at how many we have.”
Ted’s Bakery pies can be found at most grocery store chains on the island, including all locations of Foodland on the island. Ted’s Bakery even ships to the other islands. In fact, demand has increased so much that employees at the bakery are looking at ways to increase their business by taking it overseas.
“Those living on the mainland will soon have the option to get Ted’s pies as well. We are looking into shipping options that will carry our bakery items safely over the ocean,” stated Repollo. “We tried just putting it in a normal UPS box just for a test trial. You can imagine how that turned out.”
Ted’s Bakery offers not only pies, but also a lot of pastry items. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner plates are also served throughout the day. Some of Repollo’s favorite dishes are the omelets. Ted’s Bakery offers four different types of omelets including the Denver Omelet and the Portuguese Omelet.