The entrepreneurial spirit was alive and well in Becky Burns back in the late 1960s when she "encouraged" the parents of her college mates to purchase birthday cakes for their children.

With a student directory in hand, Burns sent letters to the parents, telling them how nice it would be if their children had a sweet surprise on their birthday. She'd place the orders at a local bakery and deliver the cake and card to the students.

"I tried to get them feeling really bad about their poor child way far away from home," said Burns, 57.

The effort didn't make Burns a rich woman, but she did raise enough money to purchase a one-way ticket to Hawai'i, where she worked at the Dole Pineapple cannery as a trimmer. The trip would be a life-changing experience for Burns, who fell in love with the Islands and eventually would start Anahola Granola, a Kaua'i-based company that produces a variety of granola products.

Burns returned to her home in the Pacific Northwest after her short stay in the Islands, but would return in 1981. She lived in a small house deep in Anahola Valley, where she would often bake batches of granola for visiting friends.

Her friends enjoyed her fresh-baked granola and encouraged her to start selling it. Burns made some granola, put them in zip-locked bags and sold them at a Christmas fair.

Burns said she always wanted to run her own business and she realized that there was a demand for fresh, healthy granola on Kaua'i. She found a certified kitchen in a rehabilitation center for the disabled, hired some of them, and began her business on a small scale.

She estimated that she produced about 15 pounds of granola a week and made $100 in sales at two small health food stores. Today, Anahola Granola has three flavors of granola in various package sizes and "Maca Mania" granola bars.

Burns says her staff has grown from herself to almost 20, and the company produces about 2,400 pounds of granola a week. Anahola Granola is sold in most Kaua'i stores, and Burns has expanded sales to more than 100 stores and hotels on Kaua'i, O'ahu and Maui.

She said sales last year were just less than $500,000. Eight years ago, Burns also launched a Web site (www.anaholagranola.com), which she said is responsible for about 10 percent of her sales.

Burns said she had no business background except for her college cake venture and is surprised at how successful Anahola Granola has become.

"If you had asked me 21 years ago if I thought I'd be doing this today, there's no way I ever would have thought it," she said. "It was just one of those things that organically moved along at some sort of pace. I never had a business plan and I never borrowed any money whatsoever. I just slowly built it from sale to sale."

Unlike most Kaua'i businesses that were devastated by Hurricane Iniki in 1992, Anahola Granola grew because Burns was forced to look at potential retailers on the other islands. She reached agreements with some of the big hotels on O'ahu, and once the electricity was switched back on, Burns was ready to fill the large orders.

"I had some time to think because the business came to a screeching halt. I just wanted to take that opportunity to do some marketing. I got some time to rethink direction," she said.

Another big step was the purchase of a 1,500-square-foot building a little more than a year ago in Hanapepe where Burns consolidated her operations. Although it's the goal of most business owners to grow, Burns said she believes she's succeeded because her business has remained relatively small.

"I've kept it small enough so that I could keep a handle on everything that's going on," Burns said. "The quality, I've never changed a recipe. I've never cut back on certain things so I could dilute it in any way. I've always known that keeping a local, high-quality small operation was the best way to go."

One thing that Burns said she can't take credit for is the name of her company. Even though she was baking granola in a town called Anahola, the name didn't come automatically.

"One of my really good friends came from the Mainland and we're sitting around one day going, 'What should I call this granola?' She was the one to come up with 'Anahola Granola,' " Burns said.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.