Elizabeth Sanders, 29, was born & raised on the islands of Hawai’i and Maui.  Having acquired the business in 1997, at eighteen years old, she was the youngest entrepreneur on the island. With the demise of the sugar plantation, Honoka'a town turned ghostlike, not making it the best time to invest in the food business. However, with her parent’s total support, ten years have passed and Simply Natural has expanded!  The new addition expanded seating from 26 to 47 including a comfortable lounge area.  Honoka’a has grown along with Elizabeth and her business. Long settled within this bustling community boasting a 4 way stop sign,  Simply Natural, is morphing from serving only breakfast, lunch, & ice cream to dinner and  live music at night with a contemporary flare for the whole family to enjoy.  Also, Elizabeth is proud to budget bio-degradable carry out food containers believing that the environment’s health is as important as her customers’. 

Susan Sanders, Elizabeth’s mother, is her most important team member. Come to Simply Natural and meet either Elizabeth or Susan as one of them is always in the store.  In addition to operating Simply Natural, Elizabeth and her parents also grow many vegetables, herbs, & fruits on their agricultural land  right outside of Honoka’a town.  By tending it daily with his own hands and incredibly vast agricultural knowledge, Walker Sanders, Elizabeth’s father, has transformed this depleted old sugarcane land into a soil so rich with nutrients that worms have returned where none had been seen. Our vegetable and herb patches are now settled into a lush, replenished, crop land. Simply Natural is proud to use a variety of home-grown vegetables and herbs in their recipes daily. From the land to the people through food they work as a team, within a family unit, filled with rewarding challenges. Their most common bond is that of their love for Jennifer, Elizabeth’s special, older sister and keeps them strongly connected. Jenny lives in an excellent home on their beloved Maui where her tender needs are met by a caring staff.

Elizabeth believes that living a healthy lifestyle by doing those things that bring joy to her  life will enable her to transfer that joy to her customers enjoying  Simply Natural as a meeting place as well as a place to fill their belly with yummy food!  Especially while being young and full of energy on this lovely island, Elizabeth enjoys surfing as much as possible, as well as, practicing Anusara yoga with her favorite local teachers, utilizing the community’s extensive county park facilities, enjoying favorite waterfalls & swim holes, enjoying all the different colors of beaches on their different facing pacific coastlines, as well as island-hopping to Maui to visit Jenny every 3-4 months.  Being young & exciting in Hawai’i means adventuring and trying to get lost while you keep traveling in, literally, a circle!

“May you enjoy our fabulous corner of the world as much as we do during your visit to our Hamakua Coast!” Aloha.