A Makakilo food truck is competing against chefs around the country to see who will win Food Network's Great Food Truck Race.
Jasmine Milam and Kawai Lopez are co-owners of Hele Rolls. They had not even reached a year in sales when they were scouted on Instagram to compete on season 19 of the national food competition show.
This season pits four sweet trucks against four savory ones, and after episode two, Hele Rolls is still in the running for the top team.
Milam and Lopez spoke with The Conversation about their business and experience filming the show. Hele Rolls started as a donut truck, but switched to cinnamon rolls.
"We knew we had a good product, but then we needed a name for our business," Milam said. "One day we were in the truck with my mom, and I was like, 'Ok, what about Hele Rolls?'"
The name honors Milam's late father, who operated his own food truck Helenui, which he started in 2009.
Hele Rolls offers homemade, fresh, original cinnamon rolls and also incorporates flavors people may not see in a cinnamon roll, like matcha and ube.
Milam reflected on Hele Rolls' very first order of a half-dozen cinnamon rolls. "Now we're on a TV show, and we're cooking for people's Thanksgiving desserts and Fourth of July celebrations and birthdays," she explained.
"The crazy thing is how quick the journey has been for us, and we were very, very fortunate to be in this position because most people would only dream about having this kind of escalation in business and the exposure and all this stuff," Milam said. "So we were very blessed and very fortunate to be provided this."
Hele Rolls is competing against seven other food trucks, and while Lopez said they may look like the underdogs, they are giving it everything.
"Let's represent Hawaiʻi the best that we can, and I think knowing that we were representing Hawaiʻi really pushed us to make the best out of our experience for sure,” Lopez said.
Lopez added that her takeaway from the show is a newfound confidence and frame of mind.
"There was a lot of mental fighting that we had to really put our heads into it, and I think really knowing that we can accomplish so many different levels of things from this experience really made it really nice to see, like, OK, for whatever we think that we would question for our real life, we know we can do it,” Lopez said.
Milam said she hopes to continue to make her dad and family proud through Hele Rolls.
"I felt him in the truck when I was driving," Milam said. "I wish he was there because we watched the show together, and man, I really wish that he was there to see it, to be with me."
"Everything I do is to make sure that his name and his legacy move forward, and that everybody understands why I'm doing it. It was a lot to do with him for sure," Milam said.
Episode 3 airs on Aug. 9. To view the past episodes, click here.
This story aired on The Conversation on Aug. 3, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this story for the web.
