A word to the wise this graduation season: Lei will be pricey because of the shortage of Thailand-grown orchids, not to mention the thousands of lei that are now being shipped to the mainland.
It’s not just transplanted Islanders who are ordering lei from Hawaii for events like May graduations and weddings, says Carlos Campos, CEO of The Hawaiian Lei Co., the state’s largest retail lei shipper. TV shows like “Hawaii 5-0” and “Lost” have boosted the fascination with Hawaiian lei, as have the popularity and romance of Island weddings.
“There is a big, growing trend all over the mainland to give lei for graduations, proms or special events,” says Campos, who launched the company in 2004 with his wife, Summer.
A decade of growing popularity in California “created this wave all across the country. For example, we have a mom ordering a lei for her daughter’s high school California graduation and four years later she calls again for her daughter’s college graduation in New York. People in New York see it, want it and start ordering too.”
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