HONOLULU -- For many, the Made in Hawaii Festival is chance to buy local food and even do some early Christmas shopping. But this year’s event themed “Buy Hawaii, Keep Aloha Strong” is also a huge opportunity for vendors.

From Kauai to the Big Island, there's an array of locally made food, jewelry, and artwork at this year’s 15th annual festival, drawing in foot traffic by the thousands. The event also attracts high-volume distributors.

And for long-time vendor Debra Zelenik, this annual event is crucial for her business. “It’s one of our best wholesale shows out of the year. It’s one of our best retail shows out of the year,” said Zelenik. “And then that feeds us for the rest of the year. So I get excited to know what people are looking at and what people are interested in. We love the feedback.”

Big Island wholesaler Prakash Flynn, who is in the market for unique pottery and jewelry, said her focus is to support local artists. “There is a price difference because everyone who makes things here have to ship in all of our materials. A lot of the materials don’t come from here,” said the owner of Elements Jewelry & Crafts in Hawi. “It’s just that we all live here and want to be able to make a living and stay home. So we like to buy things that are made here. They have the feeling of being made here.”

“We see the Hilo Hattie Buyer here every year, the Dole Plantation. Those are nice high volume accounts,” said Jimmy Chan of the Hawaiian Chip Company. Chan said the exposure has increased his business by 1000 percent since becoming a vendor about 8 years ago when the company only had one chip flavor. And this weekend, new products like Hawaiian Chip Company's barbecue sauce and fried saimin snack will be introduced.

Honolulu Gourmet Food is in its second year at the festival and landed an account with Costco, tripling volume. But the owner said growth also means more investment. “A lot of our money is spent in growing our business, getting more bottles, gift packs, bigger bottles. But I think this year we are really going to see a difference in profit,” said Jill Lee.

Times are even harder for neighbor island vendors who ship their product over. An investment they say is necessary to sustain their businesses. U.S. Congresswoman Mazie Hirono, who is working on getting neighbor island products into commissaries, said the success of Honolulu Gourmet Food is an example the effectiveness of the Made in Hawaii event. “She started with just a few sauces, and now because of her exposure, she’s gone into other products,” said Hirono. “It really is encouraging to come to a place like this to showcase their products. There’s a whole romance to Made in Hawaii products. And I think the more we can talk about Hawaii and the products that we have and the tastes, I think the better for all of us.”

One-third of the 450 exhibitors are from the neighbor islands.

The Made in Hawaii Festival at the Neil Blaisdell Exhibition Hall and Arena continues through Sunday. There will be live entertainment, including a special appearance by Iron Chef Morimoto. Admission is $3. Children six and under get in free. For more information, log on to www.madeinhawaiifestival.com or call 808-533-1292.