 Welcome to Restaurants Hawaii on Think Tech Hawaii. I am your host, Cheryl Matsuoka, the Executive Director of Hawaii Restaurant Association. And today I have two guests. So may I please have them introduce themselves. Richard, could you please introduce yourself? Yes, this is Richard C. And I'm the CEO of Hawaii robotic and also the person of HSL group. I'm in the beef expo cases for HSL group. And then we work with the slaughterhouse and also the feed loss and export beef to Asia. And during the last couple of years, and I've been working with a lot of restaurants in Asia, especially in China's. And then I realized that they have a lot of robots, you know, helping their service in their encoding and also delivery. So in the meantime, the feed loss, we have a super short labor forces to help. That's why I'm kind of working with the manufacturers in Asia to get into this robot business. Very nice. And Gerald, could you please introduce yourself? Aloha, Cheryl. My name is Gerald Shintaku and I'm the Director of Events here at Star Events. We're a division of Oahu Publications Inc. And we put in a variety of shows throughout the year. This is by far our best show. This is my favorite show, The Hawaii Hotel and Restaurant Show, which is coming up next week. I'm actually running off after this because we're setting up for a career expo that we're having at the Blaisdell Center tomorrow. So we're gonna find hundreds of people, hopefully some jobs. We do a senior expo. We do a home buyer show. We do a number of shows that are of interest to the community here in Hawaii. But thank you for having me today, Cheryl. Thanks for joining us, Gerald and Richard. So today we're giving all of our viewers a sneak peek of the Hawaii Hotel and Restaurant Show. The official trade show of the Hawaii Restaurant Association, the Hawaii Hotel and Lodging, the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association and Star Events. This trade show is free, although it is only open to the food service and hospitality industry. Registration is highly recommended. In 2019 we had over 3,000 people registered, right, Gerald? Correct, Cheryl. It was a blast. It was our first show and it was a hit. And how many actually attended at the end because 3,000 pre-registered but we had over 3,000 in that room? Absolutely, we had a lot of people that walked in that day. I mean, like you said, we suggest people just pre-register so we can make you a nice badge and we can get a good count. But yeah, a lot of people walk in and we encourage you to do that if you don't have time to pre-register. Yes, and the trade show is on, as Gerald said, March 30th and 31st, 2022 at the Hawaii Convention Center. And, you know, there's so much buzz. I have been receiving so many calls, Gerald, from everyone who's flying in. So tell us where some of the booths, some of them are flying in from different parts of the United States. I heard even Asia? Yeah, we actually have a company or two coming in from Tokyo, Japan, you know, which is really exciting. You know, this year, we've had so many new exhibitors show interest in our show and actually gonna participate. They were so excited. As you mentioned, we have a bunch coming in from the mainland and we have a good variety of people just here locally that want to service the hospitality industry and show off what their latest and greatest new product or services that they have. You know, it's wonderful. It's so exciting. You know, it was such a huge success, like you said, Gerald. And how I measure success is the feedback that I get from the people who had booths at the show, Gerald. You know, two weeks ago, I had a few speakers on this show and one of them, you know, who basically said, Michael said, hey, I had some people on my list. I've been calling them, calling them, calling them, emailing them. Never could connect with them. Well, guess what? I'm at the show, which we fondly call the HHRS, the Hawaii Hotel and Restaurant Show. I was at HHRS and guess who walks up to my booth? The guy who I'm trying to get in touch with. Well, right then and there, he samples his food and places an order right there on the floor. So many deals were being done right there on the floor, which made it even more exciting. So that's why he was one of the first that signed up for a booth, Gerald. Wonderful, wonderful. Yeah, I just wanna remind everybody, it's from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the 30th, which is a Wednesday. In fact, it's next Wednesday and Thursday, nine to five. And actually, if you come early, we want you to come early. UHA Insurance is actually hosting a continental breakfast from 8.30 in the morning. So if you come early, you can get a free cup of coffee and some Danish and fruits, kick off your day really strong. You're also gonna have some entertainment to kind of get you in the mood before you even walk in the doors of the show. So come early, 8.30, it's open. We'll let you do that. And then come in the show when it opens at 9 o'clock. Thank you, Gerald. So, Richard, I am so excited to hear all about what technology you're bringing to our show because this is your first time being a participant in this show. So why don't you tell us a little bit about your products? Okay, yeah, we have five different robots we'll present during the show. One is called Adam, which is a two-hands robot. So they can make coffees, hot coffee and cold coffees. And they also can make bubble teas. And very soon they can also get into the cocktails and beers. So it will be very interesting to see and you guys see the robot with dancing there. And then we have the restaurant delivery robots. So we can serve different tables and the duration of the robots can last for 12 to 14 hours without charging. So it's pretty much fit for any restaurant use for lunch and dinner and everything. And then they can automatically go back to the charging point if the barriers is out of barrier, lower. And we also have a cooking machines, which is can cook for 30 pounds, fry rice, beef barky and everything. So that will be another one. And also we have, we call it Dusty, which is one charge can clean up 30,000 square foot area. So it's perfect for hotels, convention centers and also a school that type of cleaning. And they can program it from room to room. You don't need to. So basically you program the map and they can just clean the whole for it by themselves. We also have another interesting robots that can service for, provide a hotel room service. So for example, one customer is called from a room and they want a couple of waters and then the robots just can hop into the elevators and go to a different floors and then deliver the, you know, the bottled water to the customer. So we have a whole bunch of different robots and percent in the shop. I love it, Richard. I think I need them in my house. It can clean, it can cook, it can deliver. Oh my goodness. So you'll be actually having these robots in your booth showing and demonstrating all of these things that you mentioned. Yes, yeah. Wow, wow. That's so exciting. Well, on top of the products Gerald, we also will be having seminars. So yeah, you want to touch base because education is so critical, you know, especially right now as we come out of this, we're at the endemic. So can you share with us some of the seminars that people can look forward to attending? Absolutely, yeah. Besides that over 200 booths that we'll have there, we have about 14 seminars. So we'll have seven seminars each day. They all last about 45 minutes. So it's just to keep you, you know, get you engaged, speak your interest and then you can always follow up with the speaker if you need more information. You know, we just don't want you to sit there and let it prolong, you know, the topics. But we have topics that are very relevant to today's environment. You know, food safety is always big. So we have the Department of Health here, but the liquor commission coming in to talk to folks about, you know, how to handle the beverages. We have discussions about the housekeeping. So the Hawaii lodging and tourism group will have their leader on housekeeping. We talk about inventory control, the evolution of food service. Our big sponsor, Cisco Hawaii, will be talking about the evolution of food service, not only here in Hawaii, but around the world. We have a small business association will be coming in to talk about kickstarting your business in this post-pandemic timeframe. You know, we did go up until the pandemic and then our world shifted. So these guys are gonna bring up the date in terms of how do we cope with it now? We have a career, not a career development type of topic, how to manage worries, you know, manage worry, stress, all that stuff from Dale Carnegie. We have, you know, moving beyond masks and vaccines. So a lot of very relevant topics. Again, coming post-pandemic, just to get people up to speed on how do you handle this? How do we cope with some of these changes? Gerald, you've done a fabulous job. Not only a sold-out show, terrific, terrific educational pieces because as you mentioned, it's so vital to keep getting information. And I remember in 2019, I attended a few of them and the rooms were packed, standing room only. So I'm looking forward to some of those educational seminars. Yeah, we also are gonna be having, you know, both the HLTA and the HRA has educational foundations. So we'll be having silent auctions to support our nonprofit educational foundations. And these foundations are so critical because they support our workforce. They, you know, we look towards the educational foundation to keep educating our future workforce and our future leaders. So we'll be having two silent auctions. One, HLTA will be manning and then one, the Hawaii Restaurant Association, HRA will be manning. And we would like to invite anyone who would like to donate an item to the Hawaii Restaurant Association Educational Foundation silent auction to contact me. And my email is info at hawaiirestaurant.org and we'll give you the instructions on how to send in your silent auction items. So Gerald was so kind to give us a space, right, Gerald? We're having like a few tables. Absolutely, be right up front so nobody can miss it. And then Cheryl, let me just add because before people come down, you know, the big deal with any place you go is, oh, how much is parking? Well, Domino's Hawaii has been nice enough. They're gonna sponsor our parking. So you come into the, come to the show, you look for the Domino's booth and they'll take off $2 off your parking. So parking will only be $10 there and you can get a free sample of pizza while it lasts. So what a deal besides looking at all the displays, signatures, robots work in the back, you know, having a lot of, you know, good knowledge, education, you also get $2 off parking. And again, you know, one of my favorite pizzas, Domino's Pizza. We love Domino's, you know, Domino's, their app is phenomenal. We just ordered Domino's, a shout out to Domino's. We just ordered Domino's on Friday night. And they have this app that shows you where the pizza is and who's baking it and where it is and it's out on delivery. It's just amazing. So shout out. Thank you Mahalo to Domino's. And so yes, we'll have so many things going on. Gerald, do you wanna talk a little bit about the no-host, Paul Hannah, because, you know, being at the show all day, you know, we all get to meet each other. But really and truly after the show is when really the conversations start, right? Yeah, a big part of our show is the networking. You know, Cheryl, you talked about that example of how you saw somebody or met somebody at the show and you connected and there was a true business transaction. That's what our show is all about. It's about transacting business, not just going there to have a free drink or a free cocktail or, you know, food. It's about transacting. We want people to come in, look at Richard's robots and say, you know what, I want two or three of them because it's gonna help my business. It's gonna help me be more efficient. So after the first day, after Wednesday, we shut down at five. We'll transition into the lobby area and we'll just have a real small little Paul Hannah there where people can network. We'll have a few little snacks and beverages there for people to partake of while they're, again, networking with folks. But we've got so many activities going on at the show. Cheryl, if I have a couple more minutes, can I just expand on a couple of them? So, you know, first, when you first walk in the door, Cisco's gonna have 28 booths, 28 food booths there, showing off the latest and greatest in technology and food. So if you come and attend the show, you'll get to see that. We've got the Indonesian trade promotion company of Los Angeles. So they're flying in a bunch of people into our show. They've got about six booths where they're gonna showcase some Indonesian furniture and some other products. And then you talk about education and being on trend, we've got a company called Vegco. It's a relatively new distributor here in the islands. And they're gonna be showcasing their plant-based meats. You know, one of the latest trends nowadays is getting into plant-based meats and foods. So they're gonna have a few booths there in our show to sample people that are interested in that. And I just wanna make sure that people know, I know we're coming out of COVID and we're transitioning to potentially mask list. ABC Corporation is gonna be setting up about 10 of these UVC lights throughout the hall. And these lights are about 98% efficient about killing bacteria and viruses in the air. And then they'll also have a service where if you bring your phone, they have a wipe that can basically clean it. So it's sanitary again, but our emphasis again is not only the education and sharing of product knowledge and services, but also that people have a safe environment to come to when they come to the show. So it's really exciting. There's so much I can go on and on show. I could probably talk for another three more hours, but my battery is gonna run out pretty soon and I'm gonna have to plug into Richard's charger pretty soon, so I'll stop here. Well, Richard, is this gonna be the first time in Hawaii that you are showcasing your robots? Well, yes, actually the industry is kind of brand new in the US, you know, in general. So I give you some data. Before April, 2020, we had zero restaurant delivery robots, zero. And by the end of December, 2021, it sold 8,000 units. So less than a year and a half just because of the pandemic, it created over 100 million market humanity. And when you think about, you see the comparison of the Asia data, like the China, every year, 150,000 delivery robots in Seoul. So in US market, we only do 8,000 in one year. So it's a big gap in catching up on that. And considering the salary in China, it's only $600 to $800 per month for the majority of the waiters and waiters. And in here, at least 2,000 to 3,000, there's a minimum for the cost. So we can see the potential of it. So, and also now if you go to like white castles and, you know, like IHOPs and Dennis in maintenance, you're starting to seeing the service robots, even the cooking robots. So I think in the island, we're a little bit behind, but we got to, you know, try to catch up the, you know, it's a irrevocable change because just because of pandemic, you know, the unmanned touch requirements and all this forced the change rapidly, you know. Nice, nice. Now, Gerald, can you touch on a little bit with our mandates being lifted? We don't need to have proof of vaccination to come to our show, correct? We're absolutely right, Shell. So the convention center notified us that, yep, you don't need test results, you don't need your vaccination card, they're not gonna take your temperature. So it's gonna be a lot easier to come in. And then the masks will be optional. So depending on how you feel, you can either have them on or have them off. But yeah, so the restrictions, but again, our emphasis on making sure that this show is safe for everybody who attends. Very good. And two weeks ago, I had Pepsi on this show and they talked about the reusable water bottles and, you know, the sustainability part of it because Hawaii Restaurant Association, you know, where we wanna take care of our Aina and really do what's best for our islands. So they talked about sustainability. Sustainability is gonna be a big thread that goes through this show, right, Gerald? Because so many vendors are talking about it. Absolutely. In our press release, we're encouraging everybody to bring their reusable water bottles and everybody carries them nowadays because not only Pepsi with their technology will have, you know, some good tasting water for us to drink, but there's other companies there that would also be there encouraging people to reuse, you know, reuse, recycle, et cetera. We also have a lot of companies that are talking or coming in about sustainability. Sustainable Island Products is a Hawaii-based distributor and they're gonna be showing off their eco-friendly, compostable and recyclable single use site. So yeah, the theme is right on, Gerald. It's all about taking care of our Aina. Exactly. You know, Gerald, we're all born and raised here. Our families, our children. So it's so important. You know, as Gerald knows, when I'm walking around, I've got that pink water bottle strapped to my shoulder. I'm always refilling my pink because I really don't want to create any more, you know, products in our landfill. Now, Gerald, is there anything else I missed that I didn't speak about because, you know, the show is going very quickly here. Is there anything else we need to have Gerald mention before we wrap up the show? Well, I just like to say one more thing. So if on Wednesday, you know, our show opens on Wednesday at eight o'clock, but if you're in the neighborhood or you have some downtime, come a little early on the Wednesday morning. We'll have a blessing. So we have Kahu Kekuna coming to bless our show and bless all of us. We all need blessing because of all what we've gone through. And then we'll kick off the show with a nice, simple blessing, but I invite everybody or anybody to come at that time to check it out. Yes, thank you. Thank you. Now, Richard, before we close the show, because I want to give you an opportunity to invite everybody over to see those robots. I might take a few of them home with me, right? To clean, look, deliver things, right? Is there anything you would like to say and invite people to your booth? Well, definitely, you know, like in a couple of years ago, the technology is still not mature as the current and also the price is kind of high. But right now, pretty much it's very affordable, the price. So pretty much one machine, like you have four to five months of salary, you would cover the cost. So the machine can last for at least five years. And then we have a support team in locally and we also have a tech support center in mainland to do if you have any technical problems. So we have also have a loaner program. So if you have a, so people are kind of worried that if I have a machine that I lay off some more, you know, at less workers, if something happened, then my restaurant would have closed. But no, you know, if something happened for a machine that we replace it right away and then you're in business less than two hours. So you don't need to worry about that. And then just come to the show, enjoy it. And then, you know, you see the coffee, the robot dancing for you, it will be fun. And then you see it, enjoy it. Come. I love it. I love it, Richard. So the Hawaii hotel and restaurant show is the largest showcase of Hawaii's food service and hospitality industry. You know, this show connects the very best in our industry. And I'd like to please put out a request, please pre-register. You know, it's going to be quicker for you. You don't have to stand in line, fill out a form. You just come into the convention center, pick up your pre-printed badge and walk right in. I wanna also invite all of the Hawaii Restaurant Association members to stop by the Hawaii Restaurant Association booth. We have these ribbons that Gerald was so kindly gifted us. It says, proud member of Hawaii Restaurant Association. You put the ribbon on your badge. Many of the different booths will recognize that. And then if you're a board director, you get also a ribbon saying that you are on the board of directors. So stop by the Hawaii Restaurant Association booth. It's always fun. We also are gonna be distributing our members window decals who will be laminating business cards so that when you travel, your business card will be in a little lamination. And we'll be just having a lot of fun in our booth. So again, March 30th and 31st. At the Kauai Convention Center, we really invite everyone in our food service industry. This is not open to the public. It is a trade show. So we really encourage people who support our industry also. People who support our industry, financial institutions, payroll companies, all part of marketing, advertising companies, all part of the food service industry. So if you support anything to do with the food service, hospitality industry, you are invited to attend and it's free. So again, Hawaii Restaurant Association is Hawaii's restaurant and food service industry's voice. And again, I'm Cheryl Matsuoka, the executive director of HRA. Thank you very much. Thank you gentlemen for joining me. Aloha. Aloha. Thank you, Cheryl. Thank you, sir. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn and donate to us at thinktechhawaii.com. Mahalo.