 Welcome to Restaurants Hawaii on Think Tech Hawaii. I am your host, Cheryl Matsuoka, the executive director of the Hawaii Restaurant Association. And today, it's my pleasure, I have two guests, and I'd like them to introduce themselves. First, Rocky, could you introduce yourself? Aloha. Thank you, Cheryl. My name is Rocky Bustamante, and I am the Food Service Sales Manager for the Hawaii Market for Pepsi Beverage's company. I've been in Hawaii for two years, but been with Pepsi for nine, and thank you so much for having me, Cheryl. Thank you, Rocky. And Michael, you want to introduce yourself? Hello, everyone, and thank you, Cheryl, for inviting me to this great show. I am the Hawaii Regional Sales Manager for a company called JTM Food Group. We operate out of all 50 states, including Hawaii on every island, and I've been with them a little over five years, but I grew up in Hawaii, lived here over 40. So we're excited about today's show. Over 40? You're not even past 30 years old, Michael. What are you talking about? Thank you. So today, we are giving our viewers a taste of the hotel and restaurant show, the official trade show of the Hawaii Restaurant Association and the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association and StarVest. This trade show, the Hawaii Hotel and Restaurant Show, is a trade show, and it is open to our food service and our hospitality industry. Registration is highly recommended. In 2019, we had over 3,000 people registered, and at the end of the day, we had 4,000 attendees. So please, we anticipate a larger attendance, so if you could register early, it'll really save you time in the check-in line. So when is the Hawaii Hotel and Restaurant Show? It is Wednesday, March 30th and 31st. That's right. We are three weeks away from the Hawaii Hotel and Restaurant Show. There is so much buzz. In the last two days alone, I had six phone calls from companies that inquired and ended up reserving boots, and they're excited to fly in their teams from different parts of the United States. Our show will offer the latest and greatest in food service industry and the hospitality industry all in one place, and this is the show you won't want to miss if you're in our industry. 2019 was our inaugural show, and it was a huge success. How do I measure success? Because I heard firsthand from many of our HRA members that business transactions were happening right there on the floor of the show, which is how I know we will sell out in boots this year. We only have a handful still available, so if you're interested, contact me ASAP. So first, let's go over to Mike, and Mike, share with me your experience back in 2019. Why you decided to get a boot this year at our 2022 HHRS show? Well, it was a very successful show on so many fronts, and it was new, it was an inaugural, and so no one knew what to expect, but what I really enjoyed and JTM really enjoyed is the fact that the people attending the show are all industry leaders in the hotel restaurant, whether they're owners, chefs, or procurement executives, so every person walking through or past you is a potential customer, and that was exciting, and we really leveraged all of that. Unfortunately, COVID hit, and here we are with our second show, but the buzz is out there for the show, and if you don't have a booth currently, I highly recommend getting it. I mean, it was very successful for us. Gerald Shintaku from Star Events and his team did an amazing job running it, made it very simple, load in, load out, trash pickup, everything you can think of was all handled, so from my perspective, from a vendor and a participant, I'm excited for this show and the future of this show and where it goes. I believe it will be the biggest show in the Pacific over the next three to five years for sure. Thank you, Michael. So Rocky, what was your experience in 2019, and why did you decide to get another booth this year at our 2021 HHRS? I mean, 2022 HHRS. Yeah, so Gerald, this will actually be my first time attending the Hawaii Hotel and Restaurant show, but Pepsi has had some really good experiences in the past. I know during that inaugural year, we actually made contact with Hawaii Volcanic Water, a distributor that's just hit it off really well with our leadership team. And a year later, we were distributing the products in Hawaii and now in the West Division. So great, great contact from that standpoint. And then, you know, beyond that, for me, it's about a couple of things. You know, I think it's great that we can support our partners and the local Hawaii industry out here. After the challenges these past couple of years with restrictions and limits on the industry, it's nice for us to go back out and do things like this again. And then as you know, Cheryl, I'm a little newer to the market, only been in Hawaii for two years. Me and my wife moved right during the pandemic. So it's been really hard to meet people and make those connections. And I think this is a great way to meet those industry experts, potential customers, and even like-minded individuals, a Hawaii Restaurant Association event is where I met this guy, Mike, over here. And we did it off pretty well. And then, you know, the last reason we want to get a booth is to really showcase the new and exciting products and services with the industry. We have all the movers and shakers for the hotels and restaurants in the same room and definitely want to connect with them and show them all the new things we have to offer from PepsiCo for this industry. Thank you, Rocky. And I missed, I know that you had your latest drinks at our last event. And I missed it. I'm so sorry. Do you want to share a little bit about some of the products and the new products that you'll be featuring at the 2022 HHRS? Yeah, absolutely, Cheryl. So we at PepsiCo pride ourselves on our innovation. And so we're always coming up with something new, whether it's the fun chips or the new flavors for Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew Spark is out, great taste and flavor. But one of the ones I wanted to highlight that we'll be sharing with the exhibitors at the HHRS is a new product called our Soda Stream Professional. So Soda Stream Professional is part of our journey to provide more sustainable beverage options to our customers and consumers. And what it is, is it's a modern water refill station that creates drinking water that tastes and hydrates without any single use plastic. And what really sets us apart is the flavors and the technologies in this machine. First off, it's fully customizable. You can select if you want sparkling water or still you can adjust the temperature of the water. And then from a flavor standpoint, you can add shots like raspberry lime or lemon mince and even adjust the boldness from just light flavor to really strong. Really good product. Definitely recommend the team check it out at the show. And then the other thing I wanted to talk about was the technology with the unit, both for the user and the operator is just really phenomenal with the team is put together for consumers. It provides an easy user friendly system, contactless pouring options, ADA accessibility and even tracks how much plastic bottles are saved and waters consumes. And then for the operator, it allows access to full data tracking, alerts for filter changes, low flavor shots. And most importantly, it offers options to monetize if necessary. So these are all great things that competitors in this space aren't doing today. And we're really proud of the so extreme professional system that we have and can't wait to show it off at the booth. That is so cool, Rocky. And that's what the show is all about. It's about featuring all of the latest technologies and current trends that are happening in our food service industry. So, Michael, I'm always at your booth. You always have really tasty newest products that you are also distributing. So do you want to share a little taste of your newest products that you'll be sharing at the HHRS show? Would love to. I kind of have two umbrellas at the show under the Cisco umbrella. We're featuring our newest item that Cisco National just picked up. It's going to be launching March 15th. It's called Roasted Street Corn, and it will be in Hawaii. So usually we're six months to a year behind any national launch in Hawaii just because of our location. But we're excited to announce that item, which will be in the core food booth, core food service food booth under the Cisco umbrella. And that's our newest, latest, great item. Goes on a bunch of things from fish tacos to nachos to, I mean, it goes on everything. It's a great item and goes sample it. And the nice thing about it is two-year shelf life from frozen, all you do is heat and serve, which is exciting. And it's a labor saver, which we all know is the number one thing plaguing Hawaii's Hotel and Restaurant Association and the restaurants and hotels out there right now. So that's what we do. So we make 600 items for customers all across the country. There are chef quality speed scratch items that are easy to use and they save on labor. So come by my booth where I'll be featuring four items that are already on island. So you could literally buy it from me today or that day. And the four items are premium chili. It's a very kind of a medium spice chili, small bites. It's good for the whole family. It's not too spicy. I'm also doing two mac and cheeses. One is our deli mac and our other one is our three cheese white mac, which I call the adult mac and cheese because it has cavatapi pasta in it versus an elbow. But and then my last item, I'm featuring something different this time. It's our it's our cinnamon apple filling. So if you own a bakery like Liliha, it's the perfect apple pie filling, but it can be little desserts and everything else. And and what we what I want to emphasize is that during COVID, our company really reached out to a lot of the hotels under the Avendra umbrella. And we became an Avendra partner, which will be announcing at the show as well. And there is a lot of hotels here that work under that umbrella as under Avendra. So I got 20 items there on a list, but I'm only featuring four that you could get on Island at this point. But the nice thing about what we do is we target employee meals. So one person can pretty much feed 300 to 1000 employees with what we provide to a hotel. So again, if labor is your issue, come see me. I'll help you solve that problem and give you great chef quality speed scratch items, which will help you save some money with the labor. So that's what's going on with JTM Food Booth number 111. I love it, Michael. And I'm always at your booth. I just enjoy, you know, tasting all the different food offerings that you have. And they're so delicious. One of the things that Michael, that you shared with me last year, was that you were able to connect with somebody at the show. And do you want to tell our viewers and share with them a little bit about what happened? Sure. So, you know, again, out there in the field, a lot of times you miss people because they're busy or or, you know, just mistiming and everything else. But the show was so awesome is that everyone that I had a list for pretty much showed up and came to my booth and I was able to meet them, get their contact information, show them what we do. And it's more important to have that face to face engagement which you get at the show. And we were very fortunate. We had a great response from this. We got into several large hotels. I don't want to name them, but yeah, several large hotels. And we're excited for the same clientele visiting us this year, if not more. And like Cheryl said, earlier is the excitement is out there. I mean, we've been down for two years. People are looking for new items, new technology like Pepsi. And and this show is going to have it all. So I strongly recommend that you come. Thank you. Especially if you're in the Outer Island. Sorry. Yes, you're right. Even the Outer Islands and the Neighbor Islands. Yes. We have also special hotel pricing for people coming over that need to have. So that's the calls that I've been getting. You know, they want to reserve a booth and want to know if we have special hotel pricing. We also have a trolley that will be going around the Waikiki area, picking up people at designated locations. I think there's three designated locations to make the transportation a lot easier. As right now, you know, rental cars are very hard to come by. So we try to give as much convenience as possible to get to this show. So before I switch the topic, is there anything that two of you want to share more about the show or what you're doing to prepare for the show and what you're looking forward to for the show? I'm looking forward to visiting Mike's booth. Man, all that stuff sounds so delicious. Thank you. Exactly. I'm always visiting Mike's booth. It's always so fun. And we have many, many other food vendors that will also be doing the same thing. Right, Mike, in the show, right? So what I see in 2019, which I know will happen this year as well, is all the booth vendors are all going to kind of walk around and see each other and things are going to spark ideas like Pepsi is going to come to my booth. I'm going to go to theirs and vice versa. You're going to see technology, you're going to see equipment, you know, people that sell in equipment and everything else. So it's a it's a great one stop food show that you should be a part of, especially since we've been shut down for two years. And the first one was such a success. This one I know will be even more successful. You you should be at this show. I mean, if you're on the Outer Island, make the commitment, come here, see what everybody's doing, and then you take great ideas, great technology back to your your island and and really stand out from the rest for sure. Yeah, and just speaking on that neighbor island point, all the things that we're showcasing at the show, it's not just for Honolulu. It is for the neighbor islands, Big Island, Maui, Kauai. We have Pepsi teams out there as well that are always looking for great ideas to partner with their restaurants and hotels out there as well. Good point. Thank you so much. And I know, Michael, you cover all islands also. Yes. Yes, yes, set me home. Not yet. Another another component that's going to be different this year at the HHRS is that we'll be having silent auctions and so how it's going to work is the two silent auction fundraisers, each held by the Presenting Association. So Hawaii Restaurant Association will have their own silent auction and the HLTA will have their own silent auction. And each of the fundraisers will benefit our educational foundation. So if anyone would like to donate an item or a gift card, the items that Hawaii Restaurant Association collects will support the HRA Educational Foundation and our future workforce and our future employees with scholarships. And that will help them further their culinary and hospitality education. The HRAEF, which we're fondly called, supports local public high school two year pro start programs. And these culinary programs are for juniors and seniors in public high schools and they receive a two year culinary training. So for those restaurateurs out there looking for future employees, this is where you're going to get the pool in the pro start culinary program. They have the opportunity to receive their food safe handling certificates. They learn knife skills and all the components on how to run a kitchen and how to run a restaurant. We just held our pro start instructors quarterly meetings. And I'm thrilled to announce that every single instructor stated that their enrollment in their culinary programs will be growing in August of 2022. So that's really great to hear when we are struggling for employees. So to learn more about how you can get involved or donate to the Sun and Auction, just email me at info at HawaiiRestaurant.org and we'll make arrangements to collect it. And we want to thank you for participating in our fundraiser to support future scholarships. The Hotel and Restaurant Show is the largest showcase of Hawaii's food service and hospitality industry. Our show connects the very best in our industry. So again, everyone, March 30th and 31st at the Hawaii Convention Center. I invite our food service and our hospitality industry to register for free. But remember, it is only open to our industry only. It's a trade show. We also have just a handful of food still available. So as Michael said, you know, to reserve your booth and to register to attend the show, just go to HawaiiHotelandRestaurantShow.com and you'll be able to register. So gentlemen, we have like another few minutes. Is there anything that I missed before we close the show? Well, I just wanted to again, thank you for inviting us on, Cheryl. It's always it's always good talking with you and always good seeing you. For those who are coming to the show, definitely stop by the Pepsi booth to check out the so extreme units. But even if that's not something that's right for your business, come stop by and say hi, you know, for Pepsi partners. It's always good to see you. And for non Pepsi partners, you know, we it's also good to see you too. And in talk story, we offer lots of services from fountains, coolers, bar guns and all the best products at really competitive prices. Or if you just want to say hi, you're welcome to say hi too. OK, and for me, I just wanted to and I forgot to mention that for my position, I do travel to a lot of mainland shows all across the country. I would say five to seven a year, including the National Restaurant Association and in comparing Hawaii and what we're doing here and what they're doing on the mainland, I really enjoy the Hawaii Restaurant Association show very well run, like I said, with Gerald Shintaku and Star events. But it's just getting that personal contact where we weren't getting it before versus the mainland where it's just a madhouse. So you're basically fighting for the same people. So it's a little more relaxed. You have a lot of time to chat with people, get to know them, get their contacts and get to see what they're interested in. And because a lot of the stuff that we make sometimes comes from the industry where they're looking for something, I'm not providing it, but three, four months from now, I could, you know, so it's a win win for everybody to be there. If you don't have a booth, you should get one. If you at the very least attend, especially the Outer Islands, I know it's getting busy out there and to have all these great tools and new ideas and things that will help you save money and labor with great JTM food items and other competitors of mine that will be there. It's a no brainer. You need to be at the show. Thank you, gentlemen. And another valuable component of why attend the HHRS show is our educational seminars. You know, that's where you'll learn what's new and cutting edge in our industry and where you'll get to meet all of the industry leaders. So check out the website again, Hawaii Hotel and Restaurant Show. Register so that you can cut through that line and not have to fill out all the forms at the registration desk. And you'll see the list of our educational seminars. They're always well attended. It's how you will stay informed and updated on what's happening in our food service industry. So, gentlemen, before I close, is there anything else that I miss because I'm getting the two minute warning? Nothing else I missed. So great. Thank you, everyone. So again, the Hawaii Hotel and Restaurant shows the largest of Hawaii's food service and hospitality industry. Our show connects the best in our industry, March 30th and 31st at the convention center. And we do have a handful of booths still available. So to reserve, just email me at info at HawaiiRestaurant.org. And again, Hawaii Restaurant Association is the voice of Hawaii's restaurants and food service industry. Thank you, everyone, and have a great day. 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.