May 29, 2026
The month of May marks a time to acknowledge the culture and contributions of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community. One of the many incredible businesses from the AANHPI community that has contributed to the prosperity of the Port of Seattle is Kawaii Treats! Kawaii Treats is a concessionaire through the SEA Sparks program, and they run a successful Asian fusion food cart in Gina Marie Lindsey Hall (GML) and two Asian fusion vending machines in the south concourse at SEA Airport. The Diversity in Contracting team had the privilege of interviewing co-owners Daniel and Eunice Lee to learn about their journeys as entrepreneurs and we are excited to share their story with other diverse, women-owned, and small businesses looking to work with the Port.
Background
Tell us a little about your professional background and what inspired you to start Kawaii Treats?
Daniel:
My family and I moved to America after a one-and-a-half-year journey by boat from Vietnam. We lived in Burien, Washington for about 14 years before we moved to northern California. That ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me because I met my wife Eunice in the Bay area as a high school student. We have been married for over 30 years!
I’ve spent the bulk of my professional career in the restaurant industry doing management work, which has given me a taste of what it would be like to run my own business. I worked and managed multiple stores for all different types of restaurants like Jamba Juice and World Wrapps to name a few. In 2005 Eunice and I started an Asian fusion sandwich, dessert, and boba café called ABC. We ran that for about five years, but we knew we had something viable; it was just a bit ahead of its time.
In 2019, we moved to Seattle, which led to me supporting the expansion of Bambuza Vietnam Kitchen & Bar located in SEA. That’s where I realized the high demand, opportunity, and resilience necessary to be successful in the airport. It can be overwhelming but thankfully, I am married to someone that knows all about retail in the airport!
Eunice:
My family moved to San Francisco from Hong Kong. In high school I worked my first job at a chocolate store called Chocolate Heaven and that was the beginning of my fascination for the retail sector. After high school I worked for a Malaysian-owned company called Crabtree & Evelyn that sold body essentials, bath products, and toiletries. Inspired by the cultural history and origins of the brand I worked hard and by age 25, I became a district manager.
Later, I was introduced to the airport environment at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), working for duty-free shops (DFS) owned by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH). I got savvy at growing the business and worked as a category manager for four years. I absolutely loved the airport environment. I loved the chaos and the hustle and bustle; it felt like home.
Then I worked with Pacific Gateway which was acquired by Stellar Partners. I opened with three Stellar Partners locations at SEA in 2019: New Stand, Seattle Made, and Swarovski. Then in 2024 we felt like it was time to begin our own thing. We started Kawaii Treats!
Can you tell us more about your company and the products you sell?
Kawaii Treats is a celebration of community! Our collective love for food and culture inspired us to carry products that allow customers to taste the greater Asian continent. Our flavor profile includes snacks from China, Hawaii, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines to name a few. Treats include Asian fusion sandwiches, chips, onigiri, the iconic Chinese White Rabbit candy, Sansò product, Japanese soda drinks, and our most highly touted item, our Japanese Sandos — sandwiches made with Japanese milk bread and filed with strawberries and cream.
We also carry products sourced by small business owners from San Francisco as well as locally. Here are a few examples:
- Wildwonder probiotic drinks which incorporates recipes from Chinese culture.
- Baklava and cookies made by an Armenian mother and daughter duo.
- Amazing products from family-owned businesses that don’t quite have the scale to own their own brick and mortar.
The name “Kawaii Treats” came from a family experience at a festival in Vancouver, BC. Our kids commented on these boba drinks with cute faces on the container, saying, “Oh that’s really Kawaii,” which is a Japanese term meaning cutesy. So, we used that name because it reminded us of the amazing trip we took but it’s also a word and image that represents who we are as a family.
We also have a wholesale company called Yummy Fresh that we use for pop-up events! We sell Vietnamese phin coffee, matcha, and Asian-flavored double fried wings local farmer’s markets and events like Bite of Seattle, Panda Fest, and Salmon Festival. Follow us @Yummyfreshwings on Instagram to know where we’ll be at next!
Port Opportunities
How did you start your business at the airport?
At first, we weren’t expecting to be full-time entrepreneurs so we did extensive research looking for a good vending machine to supplement our income. Without a trial run or a prototype, we reached out to the Port’s Airport Dining and Retail (ADR) team and proposed the idea of launching a vending machine that could be used 24/7 at the airport. We put together a product line, did a presentation with the ADR team, and they gave us feedback on what they wanted to see. Then in July of 2024, we got our vending machines up and running at SEA.
Many people didn’t understand the concept of sandwiches being sold out of a vending machines; however, it was a novelty. People were fascinated by it. The machines are equipped with:
- 42 inch touch screen displaying the product.
- AI components that alert us whenever things get stuck.
- Cameras and speakers that allow us to communicate with the customers.
- QR codes to help customers troubleshoot and contact us.
People were intrigued and spent time near it and taking photos with it but not enough time using it.
In the fall of that year, we moved our vending machine near Checkpoint 1 and our business almost tripled. We had to increase the production of our sandwiches and drinks to seven days a week and we delivered our products early in the morning and late at night just to keep up with demand. That then sparked an amazing proposition from the ADR team to use a Kick-Starter Cart to carry more product. Now find our cart on the south wall in GML in the international arrivals area and our vending machines in the south concourse!
What are the benefits and challenges of having your business working at SEA?
Looking after our vending machines that is supposed to run 24/7 while operating our cart 14 hours a day, 365 days a year is a lot to ask of anyone. We have the benefit of not having to pay high upfront costs to build out a space to sell our products, but most businesses don’t have that experience. Even logistically, getting physically inside the airport is much more work. Finding parking, busing into the airport, and then getting to your space is different. You have to allot more time beforehand just to ensure you show up on time. Even after a shift you are looking at a significant walk or even a bus ride back to your car.
Albeit, there are even more opportunities. Seasons of high volume due to school breaks, events, and holidays have been quite consistent since we started our business and we’ve learned how to capitalize on them by hiring more workers, making and ordering more products, and coordinating drop off of those products. That consistency also makes the airport a place where workers find good job security., At GML many are waiting for their loved ones and as they wait, they might grab a bite to eat from our cart, so we make the most of our captive audience. People know about us not because we are marketing our business but because we have ideal placement. In fact, we don’t have a website, and we don’t have a huge following on Instagram, yet we’ve been able to thrive at the airport. Plus, SEA is safe, so we don’t have to worry about vandalism or people breaking into our business.
A benefit of working with the Port of Seattle is the Port really cares about contracting with small businesses. The SEA Sparks Program lowers the barriers for small businesses to get a chance at achieving their American dream. Even being highlighted by the Diversity in Contracting team speaks to the Port’s commitment to helping us grow, as well as other small business owners.
Advice to business owners
What do you wish you would’ve known before working at the airport?
Differentiation is important. At the airport, each business is essentially paying their workers the same amount, so you have to set yourself apart somehow. I think we’ve done a good job of having a catalog of products people are familiar with.
Right now, we are preparing for global soccer matches in Seattle because we know we’ll need to make the most of that opportunity. The year that Taylor Swift came to Seattle, flight volumes doubled and we restocked four to five times a day that week.
What advice would you offer to any WMBE/small business looking to sell their products at SEA Airport?
First, sell a product that you care about. Having a business at the airport is incredibly demanding and we couldn’t imagine making extra trips to deliver our products and staying up late to run a business that we weren’t passionate about. Additionally, reach out to the ADR team to find out what opportunities there may be for your business. They are people that want to see small business owners make it in the airport environment, but they don’t hand out opportunities. Come prepared with a plan and show them you can handle SEA.
We are fortunate to be a part of SEA and will be celebrating 2 years this July! We hope to celebrate many more years to come.
Asian History Month
As an Asian business owner, what are some unique hurdles you’ve faced in running your business?
We’ve been in spaces at restaurants where we were ignored by waitstaff, weren’t given great customer service, and felt really disregarded. Those experiences have made us care deeply about how we treat our employees and how our employees treat customers. Last year we walked into a restaurant on the East Coast and everyone went silent. It felt like every pair of eyes was on us because we were the only Asians in the restaurant. We want to ensure everyone feels welcome.
Why is it important to celebrate AANHPI Month and what impact does it make on the community and society when AANHPI businesses thrive?
Celebrating AANHPI month reminds us of our childhood It’s a healthy refresher of our collective cultures and customs that we’re not exposed to as regularly because we live in a different context. We’re both immigrants but our children were born and raised here so it’s an opportunity for them to see our customs not just in the house but at large!
We curate our products around Asian holidays like Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year, and incorporate fun things like chocolate gold coins, and red envelopes. We got in this business to embrace our culture. When businesses like ours do well, customers get to experience the communal culture of our people, and we continue to provide legacy to our children through our culture.
How will you celebrate AANHPI Month?
At home every week we highlight influential AANHPI influencers/ leaders and support small local AANHPI businesses every Sunday as a family. There’s a new place called Offline Coffee Co that is owned by two recent University of Washington graduates that we look to support. We haven’t made it out to Buddha Bruddah yet so we’re excited to try some of their Hawaiian cuisine! This is our month to go and be the foodies and coffee drinkers that we are!
Amazing things happen when you are able to do what you love with someone you love and Danny and Eunice are proof of that. Many people are taking notice of their delicious food including @goodfood.seattle and Food & Wine. Don’t be the last ones to find out about their amazing products!
We are thankful for them and all the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander people who have shared their culture and customs to make the Port what it is today.
If you are a small business owner and would like to know more about how to sell your merchandise at the airport, check out the SEA Sparks webpage and the SEA Sparks presentation that covers in depth one of the business categories!
