City and County of Honolulu

The PEOPLE'S OPEN MARKET Program

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 HISTORY SCHEDULE TYPES OF PRODUCE  SHOPPING TIPS 

Founded in 1973, the People's Open Market (POM) was formed to accomplish three goals:

1. Provide the opportunity to purchase fresh agricultural and aquacultural products and other food items at low cost.
2. Support the economic viability of diversified agriculture and aquaculture in Hawaii by providing market sites for local farmers, fishermen, or their representatives to sell their surplus and off-grade produce.
3. Provide focal point areas for residents to socialize.

More than one million people shop at the 25 market sites each year. Prices are usually 35% lower than retail stores. Many ethnic fruits and vegetables not normally found in the large retail stores are found here. Each market operates once a week and lasts about an hour.

The markets are closely regulated by the POM staff. They conduct weekly price surveys at various stores to determine a recommended price for the POM vendors to follow, supervise the arrival and departure of the POM vendors to ensure safety for both vendor and consumer, and monitor each vendor to ensure that they comply with all City, State and Federal government rules and regulations, ordinances and laws affecting their participation in the POM.