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Ever thought about starting a shave ice business—even just a fleeting “that looks pretty easy” kind of impulse while standing in line for a cup of frozen water covered in your choice of delicious, rainbow-colored syrups?
According to Lorasia Tooson and her partner Vance Nguyen, co-founders of Portland pop-up Rasia’s Ono Ice, a lot of folks have.
“People will hear that we have a shave ice business, and they’ll be like, ‘I always thought of that!’” Tooson says. “But for some reason, they didn’t go after it.”
Tooson and Nguyen, however…they went after it. Right after graduating high school in 2020, Tooson started a dessert business called Rasia’s Sweets, which sold chocolate-covered strawberries and other dipped assortments at farmers markets around Portland.
But in summer, those desserts would melt in the heat. And at that point, Tooson didn’t know how to keep them refrigerated, how to effectively transport the products or, really, how to operate a business all on her own.
“I was telling my dad, ‘I don’t know how to survive at a farmers market.’ And he was just like, ‘You know…no one really does Hawaiian shave ice over here,’” describes Tooson, whose family is from Waianae, Oahu, about 30 miles west of Honolulu.
So, Tooson decided to bring Hawaiian shaved ice to the mainland. Shortly after speaking with her dad, she was able to track down a commercial shave ice machine on Craigslist for $300. And within a few days, Tooson and Nguyen made the drive from Portland to “somewhere out past Seattle” to pick it up.
Since Tooson, just 18 years old at the time, was already a business owner with a customer following, she had connections with a few other small businesses and markets. So once the critical piece of equipment was secured for the shaved ice pivot, she was pretty much set.
Rasia’s Ono Ice made its debut at a Juneteenth market in North Portland in 2021. Ever since then, the Black- and Pasifika-owned business has been serving authentic Hawaiian shaved ice at popular Portland events like the Montavilla Street Fair, Portland Night Market, and PNW Islander Market.
Now, if you’re wondering what makes Hawaiian shave ice different from other shaved ice, let us give you the full (icy) scoop. The ice shavings are typically a little bit finer, making it softer and even a little creamy. As for syrups, most shaved ice distributors are located in the American South, according to Tooson, and the concentrates can be very artificial and generic tasting.
Rasia’s Ono Ice, on the other hand, gets its syrups straight from Hawaii. Those concentrates come in more tropical flavors—think guava, mango and dragon fruit—and don’t leave an artificial taste in your mouth.
Tooson and Nguyen also aim to be as environmentally friendly as possible. That’s not to say there hasn’t been some trial and error in that department. When Rasia’s launched, they served shaved ice in “traditional plastic flower cups.” Which, especially when you consider the straw and the spoon, is not the most eco-friendly option. Since then, however, even though they had pre-purchased a pretty hefty supply of plastic containers, the two decided to make the switch to paper cups.
“It didn’t feel right, or fitting, continuing to use the [plastic cups],” she says. “A lot of frozen treats are packaged in bad products and, especially with how eco-friendly Hawaii’s trying to be, it just meant a lot to stop using the plastic.”
On the horizon for Rasia’s Ono Ice? Using the profit Tooson and Nguyen have made over the past few years, they recently acquired an old, “decent-looking” ice cream truck. Their plan is to watch a lot of YouTube videos, fix her up, and eventually take Rasia’s Ono Ice on the road.
“People think, oh, it’s just ice and syrup,” she says. “And it’s like…yeah. Things can be that easy, and you can just, you know, really build off of that if you try.”
EAT: Rasia’s Ono Ice, instagram.com/rasias.ono.ice. Follow the business’s Instagram account for pop-up locations and hours.
