Smobler Launches Robin AI to Help Hawaiʻi Entrepreneurs with Food Safety Compliance

HONOLULU — Smobler announced the launch of Robin AI, a free, AI-powered educational tool designed to help early-stage food and beverage entrepreneurs in Hawaiʻi navigate food safety and compliance documentation.

The platform was created to support entrepreneurs connected to University of Hawaii - Leeward Community College's ʻĀina to Mākeke food business program and the Wahiawā Value-Added Product Development Center.

The path from kitchen concept to commercial launch requires navigating nutrition labels, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans, regulatory requirements, production processes, sourcing decisions and market readiness. In Hawaiʻi, these challenges can be compounded by high operating costs, limited access to specialized expertise, supply chain constraints and the realities of island-based production, said Smobler.

Robin AI was built to make compliance more accessible, the company said. Entrepreneurs can enter ingredients, serving sizes and production steps, then use the platform to generate draft nutrition labels and HACCP plans in downloadable PDF or Word formats. As recipes evolve, documents can be refreshed.

“Robin was designed as a practical bridge between innovation and market readiness,” said Loretta Chen, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Smobler. "Food entrepreneurs in Hawaiʻi are building products rooted in culture, local agriculture and community. Our goal is to give them an accessible AI tool that reduces friction, supports learning and helps them move with more confidence toward expert validation, production and launch."

Robin was developed with direction from William Castillo, an associate professor at Leeward Community College.

“The Wahiawā Value-Added Product Development Center provides entrepreneurs with access to product development consultation, lab testing, production kitchens and food manufacturing resources,” he said. “Robin AI complements that pathway by helping users organize their early compliance thinking before consulting with WVAPDC experts, who can review and verify documents, provide lab-tested nutrition facts and help refine products to meet retail and regulatory standards.”

Castillo also helped Smobler organize focus groups with local entrepreneurs, including Brandon Askew from Hawaiian Vinegar Company, Len Gonzales from Galleon Chocolate and entrepreneurs connected to Mana Up, a Hawaii-based consumer product accelerator and venture fund. Their insights helped shape a tool that aims not to replace human expertise, but to give entrepreneurs a clearer, faster starting point before they work with product development, food safety and regulatory professionals, said Smobler.

"The best AI tools do not remove people from the process,” said Askew. “They help us arrive better prepared without exorbitant costs and wasted time. Robin gives us entrepreneurs a way to learn the fundamentals of food safety and compliance while allowing us to focus on product innovation, storytelling and growth."

Robin represents the first phase of Smobler's broader vision for AI-enabled food entrepreneurship, the company said. Looking ahead, Smobler said it is exploring ways to expand the platform beyond compliance documentation into product development, local sourcing, equipment recommendations, production planning and go-to-market support.

The company is also working with food entrepreneurs Nichol Ng and Nicholas Ng, who run the 92-year-old Singapore legacy business Food Xervices, to build and scale Forage AI, a Smobler venture focused on modernizing B2B food trade through AI, workflow infrastructure, verified networks and embedded financial tools.

Robin is now available in beta at https://beta.robin.smobler.io.