Aloun Sou and his family of six immigrated to Hawaii from Laos via a refugee camp on the Thailand-Laos border. The family settled in Waianae in 1977 and began to farm on 5 acres of leased land in the Lualualei Valley. For several years, farm productivity increased as the Sou family introduced and cultivated various varieties of Asian vegetables, green onion and herbs. Since Aloun and wife, Somphone, had limited English speaking skills, their four children were encouraged to learn English and apply their skills to the farm’s production, marketing and sales. In 1983, the family began its own distribution and started to sell directly to Hawaii’s major supermarkets.