 and mahalo for joining me here on Restaurants Hawai'i on the ThinkTech platform. My name is Cheryl Matsuoka, the Executive Director of the Hawai'i Restaurant Association, and today we're giving you a sneak preview on what will be featured at our Hawai'i Hotel and Restaurant Show. First of all, Gerald, could you introduce yourself? Sure, aloha, Cheryl. My name is Gerald Shintaku, and I'm the Director of Events for Star Events, which is the Division of Publications Incorporated, and the Prop Producer of the upcoming show that we're talking about today. Thank you, Gerald. Always good to have you on. And Randy, could you please introduce yourself? Hi, Cheryl. I'm Randy Sagan, and I'm from Coca-Cola, Baolin of Hawai'i. I am the Sales Manager for the Food Service and On-Premise Division, and we are so excited and honored to be back here with HRE. Thank you so much. It's always a pleasure to have you on, Randy, and it's always great to see you at the show. So the Hawai'i Hotel and Restaurant Show is Hawai'i's official hospitality trade show, and we are back. The show is actually an encore for more exhibitors and more attendees to enjoy what's going on and what's compelling and new, all the new technologies in our food service industry. The dates is March 22nd and 23rd, and what I'm going to do is I'll let Gerald first kind of recap 2022 and, you know, what we had and what people have to look forward to in 2023. Gerald? Thank you, Cheryl. Absolutely. So our dates, as Cheryl mentioned, March 22nd and 23rd, we're going to be at the Hawai'i Convention Center again. This year, we have the Large Hall. We're going to be at exhibit hall one, which is significantly larger than we've been in the previous years. Last year, our show was a little later in March in hall number two, and we had about a little over 3,000 attendees, maybe 200 booths. We're just coming out of COVID, so people were still a little tentative coming back out in the public, but we feel in 2023 here in a few weeks, people are going to be coming out to see what's the latest technologies, products and services that are available to both not only the food service industry, but the hospitality industry, because along with the Hawai'i Restaurant Association, we also partnered with the Hawai'i Lodging and Tourism Group Association, big part of, you know, our industries in Hawai'i, both association service and a lot of businesses here. So we'll have the latest and the greatest in products and services available to service these industries. And as you know, right now, I mean, we're struggling to get back. We're short on labor. We need to have, you know, new technologies to help with offset some of the issues or challenges that these industries have right now. And so you'll see a good array of companies coming out to share what they have to offer. Thank you, Gerald. Yes, March 22nd and 23rd is a major networking event for our whole hospitality and food service industry. And today we're going to be discussing why exhibitors should reserve a booth today because, as Gerald said, in 2022, we were sold out. And so we're looking at, right now, being sure that everyone knows that registration for a booth is open. So I have an exhibitor here who is with us in 2022 and to get his feedback as to why 22 was a success and why he's looking forward to being an exhibitor in 2023. Randy? Thanks, Gerald. Yeah, it's just so good to be back for one, right? COVID really hurt our industry, not just the tourism, but the restaurants suffered. And in turn, our channel really suffered as we were coming out of COVID here. What the show did for us was it got us back in the face of our restaurant tours. It got us back into the face of our partners, such as food purveyors that we could meet with to strengthen our bonds really out there. So we really appreciated seeing everybody for one, right face to face again, shaking hands, talking about our products, and also getting those leads to get more, to see the opportunity for more business out there. Exactly. And I love coming to your booth only, Randy, because you are always so generous. You always let me know what's the newest flavors and what's the newest drinks that you have there. And you were mentioning that you even have a new, what exactly is it? Is it a converter? Is it a? The prism valve. Yeah, it's for your fountain equipment out there. So a lot of our restaurants, right, they pour us syrup and they're limited to their six valve or their eight valve fountain machines. What this prism valve does is it expands their flavor profiles. It can add more flavors on the valves without changing the fountain equipment out or, you know, change because space is a high commodity in restaurants, right? And you don't want to bring in something that's big and bulky or reinstall something. So this prism valve really helps them offer more to their customers because our customers are ever changing as well without changing really a lot in your restaurant. I love it because, as you mentioned, you want to have as many offerings for your guests as possible. And the more selection they have, it's even better, right? And so this is a great innovative adjustment. Is that what I call? It's an adjustment to their... Addition, I guess. Yeah. Addition, I guess you would call it, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yes. I love it. I love it. And then always, you all always have new flavors, new products that you demonstrate over at the show. So everyone, don't forget to stop by and see Randy, say hi, tell him you saw him on Think Tech. So for Gerald, part of the draw for this show is also the seminars. So many educational seminars that are industry, it's free seminars. This whole show really for all attendees is free for our industry. So Gerald, do you want to cover some of the seminars that you're looking forward to having this year? Absolutely, Cheryl. First off, it's a show full of exhibitors. So they're going to show off their products and services. They'll have sampling, lots of sampling. So Cisco Hawaii is back again as our major sponsor of the show. They'll have almost 30 boots there and they'll have some of their partner brokers and teams there to sample all the latest and greatest in food and drinks. Domino's Hawaii is back again. So Domino's is going to be serving up a little bit of Domino's pizza and they'll be there in a large presence. UHA health insurance will also be there to do a brunch or a continental breakfast both mornings for people that do come to the show. But you're absolutely right. So the exhibitors not only can exhibit their product, but we also want this to be educational and worthwhile in terms of educating them, bringing them back up to speed in terms of what the latest and greatest rules and regulations are, whether it's the liquor commission or health and safety, helping them manage stress. Recently we went into some pretty heavy stress periods. So we'll have some seminars in relation to helping them with some of those areas. And then talking about the laws, you know, what's the latest and greatest laws that help govern the associations that we're into right now and just talk about productivity. How can we manage productivity? How can we get people and I know labor is still an issue with the within the industry. So we hope to have a seminar, something educational to help people share how to, you know, recruit people for their jobs. Can I also share that I know we didn't get into it yet, but because we know that, you know, most of the businesses aren't back 100%. For those that have signed up before that have been part of our show in 2019 as well as last year, we're still extending our early birth special to the end of January. So if you were an exhibitor in the previous shows, please, if you don't have a form, please contact Cheryl or we'll send you some information up on the screen here. Please come back and we'll hold the prices that we've held last year for because we want you to come back. And that's really going to help our businesses. Gerald, as Randy said, right, we do everything we can just to support our industry. One of the items that Gerald and I were speaking about earlier, Randy, is an app and everybody's on their phones and everybody uses apps. So this app is going to be something that Randy would use, right, Gerald? Absolutely. So what we've integrated into the program this year is we've gotten the services of an app, which will ask, will instruct everybody how to load them on their phones. And as they walk throughout the hall, if you're an exhibitor, you'll get a chance to connect with potential clients or reengage with clients. Maybe you haven't seen earlier. You know, as Joe mentioned, it's a great opportunity for them to reconnect with their clients. And so this lead generation is part of this app and they'll be able to reconnect as well as potentially get into meeting other people. And I know Coca-Cola is a large company, but there might be a couple of folks out there that haven't seen this new feature that Randy just spoke of and are interested in getting more information of it. So this lead generation will help connect both Randy's company and the folks that might be interested in seeing this new feature that he talked about so they can discuss it either at the show or set up a meeting for sometime after the show. It's all about connecting people to improve their service that they can offer to their customers that come into their stores or hotels or restaurants. Thank you, Gerald. And I'm going to ask Randy. Randy, you were there in 2022 and in 2019. I want you to share with exhibitors, especially if they're not sure whether or not they should get a booth. You know, some are new this year. I have one of my dear, dear friends has a robot company and he was like, who's going to attend the show? Like who is the people that are potential clients? So Randy, I'm going to go through the list. I remember seeing not only hotels, not only restaurants. I remember seeing state like where you're sitting right now is at a state property. I remember seeing people from the city and county. I remember seeing even people from like federal. So share with us some of the different people that were actually walking through the aisles as attendees so that our other exhibitors has an idea of, you know, who their potential clients could be that are coming to see the show. Yeah. Well, I'm sitting here right at the University of Hawaii right now, one of our biggest assets for Coca-Cola right now. Yeah, you have people from the state coming from each of the campuses. They'll be walking around. City and county was big. I saw a bunch of people from the city and county there. We've got people from, you know, they're associated with seeing come by the aquarium. I mean, just you name it, people are walking through to see what kind of services are out there and how they can improve their business. So I love this event. Why? Why? Because we can network with people and that's kind of how our business is in Hawaii. We need to network and the more people you can network, I mean, the better your business will be. So take advantage of it, people. Get a booth. Come try my drinks. We got so much more innovation coming out. Just to mention too, I do have an app as well that we will, we just introduced as far as for an ordering system called Bees. So maybe I'll be featuring that as well. I'll bring some, maybe a video and show people how they can order on Bees. It's just another way that we can do business in Hawaii quicker, faster, right? And I really be engaged with all our customers here. That's perfect, Randy. I'm so glad you're here on the show today. As Gerald knows, the Hawaii Restaurant Association's booth will be right up front. So I'm going to welcome everyone if you're an exhibitor to please stop by the HRA booth. Many of our members will always come by to get a ribbon and we put the ribbon on the badge that says that they're a proud HRA member. Randy knows I'll put a little picture frame that says proud member of the Hawaii Restaurant Association in his booth. And then we walk around the show and we get to meet everyone. And like Randy said, we're a very close knit industry. Everybody knows each other and then you get to go to all the booths and see what's new in technology and what's all innovative. In 2022, Gerald, the robots were pretty, how can I say this, popular? Big hit, big hit. You folks face the labor issue and the robotics folks came in and I think we have another company that's going to come in this year to show how they can help the Restaurant Association with their labor challenges. So I think it's wonderful. Let me just add Cheryl at this time. So what we'll do is we want the exhibitors to feel that this is their show. It's their show. And so if they have a list of clients or customers that they want to invite and make sure they get there, we'll add them to our list of attendees. We do ask attendees to register ahead of time, pre-register. The show is absolutely free. But if they want to send me their list of people that they want specifically to invite to the show, we'll add them to our attendee list and make sure they get all the email and communication about the show and the details about the show. So we want them to be a part of this. It's their show. And we want them to feel that we're working together on this together. I love that. And Joe will tell you because he's been at the past shows that a lot of people that come through the show are really looking to see what's new always. And as I mentioned, robots were the hit in 2022. Robots are back in 2023. Gerald, what other types of innovative boots will we be seeing? I know that you also in the past had had people from out of state fly in specifically for this show. Absolutely. We have a company coming in, a number of companies coming in from the mainland. We've got a bakery coming in from Japan. And we've got some new distributors or new companies coming in from all over the place. And in terms of product line, it doesn't necessarily have to be a new industry. But people like Sustainable Island Products and KYB Inc., they have new packaging that's available for use. We've got the Bank of Hawaii coming in and offering what their latest services are that they can offer to the original supply folks, as well as hotel folks. We've got a number of companies that Hawaii Coffee Company is going to come in and serve some coffee, pro touch systems, merchant services is a big deal. So we'll have a couple of companies showing off the latest and greatest merchant services that businesses can offer. So yes, it's a constantly turning, as you know, it's such an innovative area that we are in. And it's constantly changing and upgrading. And so you'll see some exciting, real exciting things coming up in our show in a few weeks. Yes, Gerald, how many weeks away? I sure wasn't talking today when you told me, is it six weeks away? Pretty close. So March 22nd and 23rd will come around the corner very quickly. So we're working hard to make sure this comes together. It's always exciting. So what people have to look forward to is, like you said, a condonado breakfast. Is that what I heard? Yes. So both mornings for about an hour, UHA Health Insurance will offer a continental breakfast of coffee and pastries to get people going in the morning. They'll also offer that to the exhibitors. So exhibitors that have been there tirelessly working, setting up their boots, they can have a little deal to coffee and get them going. But yes, don't wait any longer. Like I said, the earliest birth special for those that are returning exhibitors ends at the end of January. And then for the overall show, we'll close up the boot sales at the end of February. That's just right around the corner. Like I said, we still have a number of good spaces available. So if you don't have an application, refer to the information that's going to be coming up here pretty soon on the board and make sure you get a form or touch base with Hawaii Restaurant Association or Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association and get a copy of the form. Thank you. So gentlemen, I just really, I want to discuss also some of the other benefits of why people attend this show is because exhibitors get a boot at this show is because the people who attend this show, the attendees are all from our industry. Gerald does a great job that it doesn't allow people outside of our industry who are just, Gerald, how do I say it? They just want to come by and take the free pens and eat the pizza and drink the coffee, but they really have nothing to do with our industry. How do I say this nicely of how you screen them at the registration desk? How do you say that? Correct. When we went folks register, we just, we asked them what their occupation is, what company they work for. And yeah, like you mentioned, we want them to be aligned with both associations. While we appreciate people that consume the products that are being offered at the show, we want to make sure that it's truly a business to business type of opportunity. You know, the exhibitors spend a lot of time and resources being there. And we want to make sure that they have an opportunity to really show what they have to offer to companies that are coming in, people that are coming in to attend the show. And we've heard so many success stories in the past of partnerships that have developed at our show, just because we've had some really good, serious exhibitors, talk story. And as Randy mentioned, you know, it's all about that relationship, talk story with the attendee that have come in and developed either new recipes or new areas where, you know, some of these exhibitors, the companies that come in can, can realign themselves. So it's, it's truly what we want to make sure that it's a quality business event with proven results. Exactly. Randy, you know what I'm talking about when you have a show and it's just people coming by just to drink, you know, free soda and really and truly they have no, you know, business that they could purchase your products through. So this show is a really quality show and Gerald does such a great job ensuring that at the front desk at the registration that everyone there either has a business card and is related to our industry versus people that really don't have any business and they're just looking for a free Coca-Cola. So Randy knows what I'm talking about, right, Randy? No, absolutely. We're willing, obviously, to let people, everybody write stuff for our product. We love people to try everything that we have. But yeah, we're looking for good connections out there as well, you know, and it goes beyond just, just us selling art and distributing our product, right? I like to connect business with another business. Maybe you have digital needs, right? Hey, let's go see those guys from Pacific Digital. Let's see if we can get you brand new digital boards, right? Get your menu up there. Let's do some graphics. There's so many different connections that we can do there, you know, whatever the needs are, right, for your business to move forward. This show has it. This show really has it. Thank you, Randy. All right, so we've got a few more minutes. I'm going to ask Randy if there's anything else that I missed that you wanted to mention on this show about what's coming up and what's new and why people should come to the Coca-Cola booth? Well, we are a Coca-Cola bond in Hawaii. We're part of the Odom family, which we also acquired at Anheuser-Busch, so that's A-B, Hawaii. We will probably have a joint booth again. So not will you just see the Coca-Cola products, but you also have the Anheuser-Busch side of the business, too, which would be, it's always a good thing when we come together as a family, the Odom-Ohana. And as you know, Sheryl, when you come, we come with open arms, right? We bring you in and we let you taste the product. We give you some swag, right? We talk story. And we really want that deep connection because, like Gerald said, two relationships are so important in Hawaii and we value all of our current partners and partners that actually we have an opportunity with. We value all that business. Thank you and thank you for being on the show. Gerald, before we sign off, is there anything else that you want to add to all of the companies who are deciding whether or not they want to be an exhibitor? What should they do? Well, you know, it's not an exclusive event. So just because one company's there, doesn't mean that you can't come in with your product or service. We want it to be a competitive event. And you know, show off what you've got, too. You know, whether it's a beverage item, you know, we've got a number of water companies coming in. We've got Pepsi coming in. You know, it's not exclusive to one. We want to make sure that the folks that are attending the show get a taste of what's new across the whole industry. So don't be left out. You know, if you know your competitors coming in, you better be there also. And you know, maybe come in in a bigger way because you want to make sure that your product is seen, your product is tasted, your services, people understand what your services that you're offering. But we've had a vast, we have a vast array of, you know, fields of people that are coming in to the show. So don't be left out. Don't wait, stand in your application right away. They can hold a booth space. Thank you. Thank you. And you know, gentlemen, I just want to recap this. I'll remember the Hawaii Hotel and Restaurant Show is coming up on March 22nd and 23rd. And not only will you be able to see all the different vendors and exhibitors, you also will get an opportunity to attend the educational seminars. We also will have an app and it's a lead generation app for those who are having booths there at the show. And like always, it's all about the networking, you know, in Hawaii, that's what it's all about, building that relationship. So again, my name is Cheryl Matsuoka, the executive director of the Hawaii Restaurant Association. I want to thank the two gentlemen who have joined me today. And to remind everyone that the Hawaii Restaurant Association is the voice of Hawaii's restaurants and food service industry. If you'd like to know more about us, please visit us at our website.