 My name is Cheryl Matsuoka, the Executive Director of the Hawaii Restaurant Association and the Hawaii Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Mahalo for joining me here on the Restaurants of Hawaii on the ThinkTech platform. Today we'll be discussing how American Savings Banks by Local Program is a unique marketing opportunity to help your business grow. Okay, perfect. Hi everyone. Again, this is Cheryl Matsuoka, the Executive Director of the Hawaii Restaurant Association and I'd like to have my guests introduce themselves. Can I first start off with Katrina? Hi Katrina. Hi, Cheryl. Yes, my name is Katrina Sabito and I'm the Director for Consumer and Business Products at American Savings Bank. Welcome Katrina. Thank you for joining me and Clint. Hello. My name is Clint. I'm the owner of Aloha Donut Co. Welcome Clint and Noah. How are you, my dear? Nice to see you again. Hi, my name is Noah and I'm the Marketing Director at Aoki Group Restaurants, which includes Dorako Sushi, 1938, Aoki Tepanyaki, Herringbone and Blue Tree. Very nice, Noah. Thank you so much for joining us. So today we're going to be talking all about the American Savings by Local Program. So my first question is to Katrina. Katrina, how did the by Local Program, how did it start? Well, it actually started back in 2021. So really how this all came about was during the pandemic. We really saw a lot of restaurants closed and a lot of businesses struggling and coming out of the pandemic to a lot of consumers were also being hit with inflation and increased cost. So we tried to figure out how do we bring our resources together to help all of our community members, our consumers, businesses alike. So that's kind of how by Local started and where the idea really generated from. Thank you, Katrina. And everyone remembers how ASB was all behind the Hawaii Restaurant Card. So we will always, the food service industry will always be grateful to ASB for all that she's done. So Katrina, what exactly is the by Local Program? By Local is we are really doing what we can to help support businesses. So what we do is we thought, how do we bring our resources together and really help our businesses? And where one of the places our businesses struggle with is really marketing, right? They don't have the time to market their own business because they're really in the day to day and, you know, making their businesses run. So what we do is we use and we tap our resources to promote the businesses to all of our debit card holders and we have different marketing channels that really helps to promote each of the businesses that are participating in our program. Great, great idea. So Clint, so what is Aloha Donuts by Local Program? And before I say that, I have been driving by your location over on King Street for a while now. And every time I drive by Clint, I feel so guilty. I'm like, I need to stop in. You know, Clint is located right there on King Street, right Clint, right across the street from Washington, intermediate. Right across from Zippy's, right, actually right at the crosswalk. So right at the light. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. And because there's so many Zippy's, that's why I said Washington and Tunisia, but it's right there next door. So Clint, what is your Aloha Donuts by Local Program? We have the spend $15 or more and then you get $5 off your purchase. Nice. Nice. Nice. So has my local program helped Aloha Donuts? Yes, absolutely. A lot of local people, you know, they bank at American Savings Bank and they have that card. So that's one of the first things we ask whenever we have new customers come in, we ask them if they have an ASD card. And then we show them the offers right there in front of our register. And, you know, every time whenever they find out, oh, there's, there's an offer on there. They're super excited and happy. They got that discount. Absolutely. Everybody's looking right for a way that they can save a little bit of money. So hi, Nova. How are you, dear? So what is, hi, what is our Oki Groups by Local Program, Noah? So we partnered with American Savings Bank to offer exclusive discounts at five of our businesses at Durakusushi, 1938 Indochine, Aoki Tepanyaki and Herringbone. You receive $20 off when you spend $100 or more. And at Blue Tree, you receive $10 off when you spend $40 or more. We also do have another local promotion where we have our own loyalty program called Aoki Group Awards, which is also known as AGR and it's free for anyone to join. It's very simple. And we just download the app through your smartphone and we have many benefits and discounts for our local guests out there as well. Nice. I was just over at your Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center location with the Educational Foundation. So we were just down there. Very nice. It's always, always great food. And so I'm going to ask Katrina then. Katrina, can you go a little bit more detail of how the Bi Local Program has benefited some of the, is not only restaurants, right? There are other types of businesses I see on the Bi Local website. Correct. So we actually started with a lot of restaurants and we have been moving more to like retail stores. So we do have a good number of retail stores. We even have like Flora & Company, so Abby Carpet is part of this. We also have furniture stores like Baleaga. So we are spreading and really growing this platform in the portfolio as much as we can. Very nice. So, so Clint, has it driven more business to your Aloha Donuts? Yeah. Again, especially with the locals and just the neighborhood in general. Once they get word that you present that card, use that card, you get $5 off of your $15 purchase or more. It spreads. So people come out and they, that's one of the first things they come. Hey, I got an ASD card right off the bat. So yeah, absolutely. It's been great. That's awesome. And Noah, do you hear the same thing when people come in to your, all your different concepts? You know, they're like, I also have an ASD card just to, you know, let the server know. Yeah. So ASD actually does a lot of amazing co-promotions like creating flyers for us and sending out newsletters, email blasts. They have so many ways of promoting us as well. So it's been really helpful. I feel like the highlight for us was being able to be a part of the High Now Weekend Takeover series. We had our executive Chef Gary Tomashiro from Herringbone showcases new dishes on that show as well. Oh, that's so cool. Okay. I've got to go look that up. So Katrina, how do businesses become a by-local partner? It's actually really easy, right? As long as you have an ASD checking account with us, we are really trying to grow it. We have over 35 different businesses that are currently participating in this program, and we are looking at expanding this as much as we can, right? We want to do everything we can to really help local businesses and give our debit card customers a reason to use the product and really just continue to help support local. So all you have to do is really go to ASBHawaii.com slash join by local. And there's just a few different information about your business, and then it gets sent to us, and then we'll start engaging with the business. And I think you said it's so true. Many of the restaurant tours that I know, they're so busy working in their restaurant, right? I mean, everything from in the kitchen to the front desk everywhere. I see the owners of restaurants busing tables, right? So they don't have time to work on the marketing part of their business. So ASB helps them with that. And that's such a huge, huge help. So my question to Katrina is, you know, everyone wants to save a little bit of money, looking at, you know, the consumer side of it. All it is, is a debit card? Correct. All you have to do is have our ASB debit card. And if you go to any of the participating businesses and tell them that you're using the card, they will apply the discount, right then and there. That is awesome. And I really feel that everybody, right? I mean, is looking for a way that they can just save a few dollars here and there. And it would make a decision for me, Clint, like if I was looking to go to a donut shop, right? And I'm like, oh, okay, you know, I can get a few dollars off of I go to Clint's versus, you know, go to somewhere else, then that would make a decision for me, right? So that's a great idea. Clint, do you want to share more of how the buy local program has helped a lot of donuts? Yeah, I mean, again, with their platform and on their website, they, you know, they do these little advertisements and, you know, we're featured on there. So people say, yeah, we saw you online. I was in my banking and it popped up, you know, we saw the special or we saw that that offer with the card itself to five dollars. So, it's been great. You know, we got, we had a chance to do events with the ASB sponsored events. We do come in Sundays over at Eleni Palace. That's been really great. That's really been getting us out there, getting our product out there. So that's actually a really huge thing for us. There's a lot of people that show up to that. So it's been really, really great with ASB. Yes, Katrina, I sent that out also to our listserv also, letting everyone know about your come in Sundays. And I think it's a great thing in ASB again, that so much to support our local community, we're just so grateful for everything that ASB does. So Noah, would you, would you recommend other businesses to jump on the buy local campaign also? Yes, I definitely would. It's a great opportunity to be involved in the community a little bit more. And they also make it really easy to collaborate. And it helps our businesses a lot by putting us on the map, on their websites. It also helped our newest restaurant, 1938 Indochine. We just opened that place up. It really brought people in. And we just changed our menu. Our chef Kelly Digala is amazing, but ASB really helped kind of bring people in there and try it out for their first time. That's awesome. So Katrina, is there anything else that I missed that you want to share about the buy local campaign? As I mentioned, it's been going on for a while and right now you're getting a lot more traction on it. Is there something else you'd like to say to businesses who are interested in boosting their revenue? Definitely. So buy local is really, we tailor fit each of the offers to the business. So we really look at what the business is doing and the average brand and what a good offer would be. And then we work closely with the businesses to come up with what they think, what we think is the best offer for their customers and what would be the most appealing. So we really do try to tailor fit it. And aside from that, it's just a marketing opportunity that we're really trying to expose their business, get their name out there, get people to support them and really just create a community where we're all just helping all local residents and businesses alike. And I love the your come on a Sunday's idea. So share with us a little bit about that event. It sounds like Clint, you've been there. So Katrina, can you tell us a little bit about that event? We do come on a Sunday's with Ilani Palace once a month and we tap our business customers to help. We want to be one of the food vendors and Alokha Donut is one of the food vendors that we are on food with us almost every Sunday. And it's just a really good way to be out there, be with the community and like to help support tours that we're giving away and having free choice to the palace. So it really is a really nice event. That's so awesome. Now, especially because that gives everyone, like Clint said, more exposure, right? As Clint is out there, you know, doing the come on a Sunday's, more people are like, Hey, so probably Clint, they're saying, Hey, so where is your shop? Right? Is that what they say to you? Exactly. And we just don't hate to write down the street. It's great. Exactly. Exactly. So, Clint, what are your hours there over at Aloha Donut? We're open seven days a week from 7am to 2pm. Nice. Nice. Nice. I want to talk a little bit about some of your menu that you offer to get everybody. We specialize in Mochi Donuts. I don't know if you ever had those before. There's a lot of people that haven't had Mochi Donuts before. I think some people are more familiar with other places that serve one type of Mochi Donut. We serve five different flavors daily and we rotate three flavors every week. We have our two normal flavors, our most popular flavors, which is Strawberry and Tarot, and then we rotate with three flavors every week. We also offer cake donuts, yeast donuts. We have soft serve. We have Andagi hot dogs. We're going to start rolling out some new exciting things also. Check out our Instagram for that, Aloha Donut Co. H&L. So, yeah, we're just really focused on the Mochi Donuts. We do coffees also and matcha lattes. So, yeah, just a little place to stop over, get some treats. Nice. Nice. And Noah, of course, I've been to your Indochine and all of your other restaurants and the Rocco Blue Tree. So, do you want to share a little bit about some of the new type of menu items that you have over there, especially at Indochine? Oh, yeah. So, we actually, we recently just got a new chef. His name is Chef Kelly de Gala and he actually recreated the whole menu and made everything, just the flavors. Everything is improved. So, it's definitely something that we should come down to try out. Your food is always awesome, always. So, Katrina, is there anything else that I have not asked you that you want to bring up about the buy local campaign? Maybe the only other thing is because we are trying to expand, like, it's great if, you know, different businesses, we have different participating business who have referred other businesses because they do think the program's great and they want them to join. So, we do love and appreciate that and it really just helps us get the word out there and really help each other. So, I think that's one of the great things that comes out of this. Well, I'm going to say something really bold, Katrina, because as a bank, ASB is really trying to help their clients and help them grow by providing this great marketing and resources that many times the restaurants, they don't have the bandwidth, especially when I'm thinking about the smaller mom and pops and you see them working in the restaurant and they're basically doing everything from, you know, prepping in the morning to cleaning up at night, right? This is a great, great, great opportunity for businesses who want to boost their revenue to consider jumping on the ASB buy local campaign. As Hawaii Restaurant Association, Katrina knows we send out all of the information about the buy local campaign and the come out on a Sunday. So, if you're not receiving our emails, it's free to sign up. You just go to our website, HawaiiRestaurant.org and just sign up for a free industry update. It comes directly to your in-bin. All right, everyone, now I'm just going to kind of go around the circle. Katrina, is there anything else that we have missed that we want to mention before we end the show? The only other thing maybe is really that the program is free for businesses to participate and join. We do everything we can to really support the business, so there is no cost for the business to be part of it. It's just right. We're doing what we can and working together to get what we can out there. That's a great point that there is no expense to this business. And it's just like I mentioned earlier, you know, the Hawaii Restaurant Card was such an amazing program that ASB did and all of that they did for the community during the pandemic. So, yes, that's a great point and all they have to do is, as you mentioned, you know, go to the website and sign up or they can just reach out to me. Most times, people reach out to me after the show and say, hey, remember what you talked about? How do I get in touch with them? And then I'll definitely do a link so that they can link up with you, Katrina. So, Clint, what did I miss about Aloha Donuts? Now that you've given us your menu, you've given us your hours, people know exactly where you are across the street from the Zippies over next to Washington Intermediate. What else about you? How long have you been in business? You've been in business for about a year and a half, actually. So, fairly new. You know, we're still learning. We're still, you know, trying to do different things. So, yeah, it's exciting. It's fun. So, you know, we're trying to bring out a new product that I think is going to probably be pretty popular. We're going to try and roll out our mochi sodas. So, it's our take on mala sodas, but mochi. So, beyond the look out for that, that's coming out real soon. So, but yeah, it's this whole experience has been great, you know, being able to do all these events. I think with Oy Business Magazine also, we did an event for them too. So, that was a real fun one. So, you know, just really getting out there, giving us the opportunity to get ourselves out there and be seen, you know, and people to taste our products and stuff. So, it's been really wonderful for us. I love that. And really and truly, the King Street location is your only location right now? Yes, it is. The only location. Yes, that's it. And then you can find him over at Tom Ina Sundays over at the Ilani Palace, right? Absolutely. Nice, nice. And, you know, that's a great gift to take, you know, when people have to go to like the neighbor islands and things like that. I can see that being taken, you know, as a gift from Hawaii. That's nice. Yes, absolutely. Nice. I do it all the time. I know. That's what I'm thinking about, right? So, free on the plane, I give it to the crew. They love it, you know, so bring it to the other islands and spread the love. Yeah. And who doesn't love donuts? Oh my gosh, that's right there. All right. So, Noah, what did I miss before we end the show? I just want to be sure you had an opportunity to share everything. Your group, Aoki Group, has just grown, right? And I haven't made it out. Is your your Kapolei location? I'm sure it's really busy. Yeah, it's doing well. We actually just came up with some summertime cocktails over there. We're also launching our first DJ night this Saturday. Every first Saturday, we're going to be having a EDM and hip-hop night. So, that should be fine. But yeah, at all the locations, we have some summer specials going on. At Doraku Waikiki, we have our Sunday special, Sushi Beets and Bloody Marys, but yeah. I love it. I love it. You've just expanded and you're right. Kapolei is a very, very big growing community out there. And so that's great that you folks are out there. I'm glad to hear that it's doing well, girl. And it's good to see you again. So, before I wrap up the show, is anybody have anything else before I do the final close? Did I miss anything? All right, so we're actually going to do something different also with a little doughnuts. We're currently working on a trailer. So, we want to bring a food trailer. Yeah, so we want to bring our doughnuts away from Makali and kind of get it to other parts of the island and let people experience our treats. So, that's coming soon. Probably roll that out in August or by the beginning of August and you'll be seeing a big red trailer with Aloha doughnuts on it. I love it. Thank you for letting us know now. I'll be on the watch for that, right? Everybody looks out for the other trucks, right? The food trucks. And as you know, everybody's just growing. I've been out to write the food trucks at Waikiki at Pearl Ridge. Everybody's got food trucks out there. So, that's brilliant, Clint, to be able to take your doughnuts anywhere around the island. Brilliant. So, what made you think about that? When we've done events on the parts of the island on the west side or up in Mililani, and it's always the first question they ask is, where are you located? And we say Makali and they're all, well, that's far, right? So, they say, oh, are you going to open something down on this side? And I'm like, oh, not nothing right now, but so, that's always been a question for us. We have people that come up from Nanakuli and Waianite to get our doughnuts. And they always let us know, hey, we're coming out from Nanakuli to get this. So, when are you going to bring some down on that side? So, there's been some demand, and we're way out on that side in town. We really want to have people experience our offerings. So, that's pretty much what the drive was, is to get something to transport and sell our products and mobile. So, yeah, you just want to spread the awareness of aloha doughnut dough. I love it. I love it. Great idea. So, everyone, again, thank you so much for joining us here in Restaurants of Hawaii and the Think Tech platform. And I just want to mention to our viewers and supporters, we all want to support BiLocal. And everybody supports that whole idea. So, this, again, American Savings Bank provides us with a great opportunity to support all of our local businesses while saving money on special offers and discounts. And if you are responsible in growing your business's revenue, reach out to American Savings Bank to find out more about this unique marketing opportunity so that they can help you grow your business. Again, my name is Cheryl Matsuoka, the Executive Director of the Hawaii Restaurant Association and the Hawaii Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The Hawaii Restaurant Association is the organization unifying, representing and supporting the Hawaii Restaurant and food service industry. Thank you so much for joining us. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Check out our website, thinktecawaii.com. Mahalo.