 and I'm excited to journey with you as we learn how to take your health back. Today we will hear from Monty Pereira, who works for a 75 year old company called Watanabe Coral, who has been bringing joy through flowers. Monty will share with us how flowers impact health and wellness and how Watanabe Coral, their mission and their values make them who they are. And that's so important that they had those core values and they stuck to it. And that gave them 75 plus years of longevity. So let's welcome Monty Pereira. Aloha Monty. Aloha, great to be here with you folks today. Yeah, I was so excited when I walked in your store and I said, I gotta share what your flowers do to me and to all the other recipients of your beautiful flowers. So I wanna just jump right in and get to the story of what's behind Watanabe Coral and yourself. But before we get started, Monty, just share a little bit about who you are, who's Monty? Well, you know, I'm born and raised in Hilo. I'm a Hilo boy. I came here for college at the University of Hawaii, majored in accounting. I'm a TPA by trade. As you can see in the picture, I'm married. My wife is an administrator at Mid-Pacific Institute. I have two daughters. My older daughter is in law school at Seattle University. My younger daughter, Crystal, is in her sophomore year at Grand Canyon University majoring in business management. So I've been at Watanabe Coral now for about 24 and a half years. First is the accountant and now is the general manager and sales and marketing director, which is a better fit position-wise for my personality versus what you think an accountant is. Exactly. And to me, you're the face of Watanabe Coral because for as long as I've been in business, you've been there and promoting. And I was like, I don't look like one Watanabe, but you act like a family, the Ohana of the family. And so I'm just so honored to have you on the show today. So let's dive right in about your flowers and your arrangements. I know that study shows that floral or flowers impact happiness. Is that true, Monty? It really is true. And I think it has never been more true than in the last 18 months, since COVID struck. There have been studies by Harvard, by Texas A&M and a number of other universities that show a 30% increase in happiness and mood and in productivity in the office just by having flowers and plants around. So there is definitely an impact between flowers and how it makes you feel, especially first thing in the morning, you get out of bed, you see the flowers there on the table, you instantly your mood changes to the positive. 30 to 40% happier if you have flowers in the home. Yay, that's a good, good piece to share. I mean, we want happiness and joy, especially when we wake up every day. And thank you for bringing that to many people's homes and offices. So Monty, I know that you've been at Watanabe Forest for 24 and a half years. Please share with us a little history about this exceptional company called Watanabe Forest. Well, it started 75 years ago by Mr. Ernest Watanabe. He had just returned from his stint in World War II. Just before World War II, he and Mrs. Shizui Watanabe were supposed to get married. So when he was deployed in Australia right outside his barracks, he thought, hey, there's so many of us that are in this boat that are gonna get married when we come back. People are gonna need flowers. So right there outside his barracks, he started to grow roses. Outside the barracks in Australia, just to get it perfected. And then when he came back in the Kahala area where Kahalama now stands is where their house was. It was farmers' row. He started growing roses right there. It expanded into Hawaii, where Kaiser High School now stands. And then it expanded into both Waianae and Mililani. We had two nurseries. And then when Waianae became too small, we had 18 acres on the big island as well. But since it's been around 20 years since we stopped growing flowers. They were now the largest importers of flowers in the state. So the company has changed from a grower to a wholesaler to a wholesale retail mass marketer. And our main showroom for one standalone location is one of the largest floral retail operations in the entire country. So completely a lot of evolving, but that's the nature of business, right? You either adapt and change or you get left behind. Wow, what a history and a nutshell. That's beautiful. And it started with roses. So Monty, are roses your best seller? They still are. I mean, it used to be, it was 90% of our business. And now it's no longer that big a chunk of our business because we're not growing anymore. But I think, especially at major holidays like Valentine's Day, I think for most men, especially men, middle-aged men and older, all they know is roses. So they feel like if they grab roses they're always gonna be safe. So roses are still probably the number one seller, but it's not nearly as pronounced as it once was. Wow, that's easy, right? And you know, especially when the guys mess up or they forget something, get a dozen roses that'll make her happy and it does. And you know, nine times out of 10 it'll be okay, all is forgiven, let's carry on honey. So you're the resolver right there, the homemaker, the happiness in the homemaker. So I know that Chef Chai has the most beautiful arrangements every time we dine into his restaurant. And he enjoys putting all the flowers himself and together in these most beautiful arrangements. But he tells me that he visits your shop almost weekly to check out your amazing selections. What would be one of the most exotic or flowers that you carry up to date? Well, Chef Chai has been a customer of ours for many, many, many years, but you're right, he loves to put things together on his own. In terms of exotic, I mean, there's tropical flowers. I mean, most people in Hawaii expect to have a prevalence of tropical flowers and we certainly have those. But we have over 2,000 SKUs at our store, different flowers that come into season from different times. So I think flowers that are not well known that are extremely popular would be things like peony, which is more of a spring-type seasonal flower. Garden roses, which has that look of a peony are two things that come to mind that are a little bit more not mainstream flowers than most people know about. Wow, you know, Chai sent me down there and that's when I got to see and visit with you, Monty, but he wanted these flowers and he had an extra, so he let me take it home, but it was this thing. And, you know, I had it in my place, but I'm amazed at these leaves. I've never seen anything like this before. And now it's a couple of weeks old, but it's still beautiful. And I'm gonna keep it as long as we can, but I'm amazed at the leaves. Do you know what this flower is? That's a protea, you know? So usually most protea comes from the island of Maui. That's typically where we bring in most of our protea from, but because of COVID and the disturbances in the supply chain, we've had to look elsewhere to support that. So these protea are coming either from California or through Miami from South America. So that's where the exotic leaves that you see on that protea. They're beautiful. And, you know, whenever we go to Chai's, I'm like, Chai, what is that? He goes, Wendy, just go buy a couple extra and you need some, you take a couple home. So I did, we helped put things together for him. And it was like, wow, everyone's so amazed when they come and see mine. So thank you for bringing it in and having it available to Chai so he can also promote what you do and what you have in your stores. So- Yeah, he's amazing. He's, yeah, I love his floral arrangements. And, you know, he's, as I said, he goes to you every week, like going to the flowers marks and that's what you are to him. So I know that you also specialize in supplying many of Hawaii's weddings as Mr. Watanabe, he noticed from the very get go. I know that you supply a lot of the floral arrangements and bouquets for weddings, but I want to just ask you, how has COVID affected that wedding business for Watanabe floral? Well, it's definitely had a tremendous impact on the wedding business. And I think there are two parts of this. I mean, we still have a wholesale operation and a retail operation. And both of them have suffered during COVID. You know, once weddings were allowed to happen again to some degree back in April, you know, the wedding business exploded again. You know, for that three months, it was just like gangbusters. People had put off weddings for quite a period of time. And then it was shut down again in August and is now starting to get back open starting this weekend. So it has had a major impact. You're talking about the wedding industry, those that are predominantly wedding florists that really have only been able to work for four of the last 19 months. And that has been very, very painful for them. So for us, they buy from us on a wholesale level similar to what Chai does. So that has hurt from that perspective. And then as well as our own retail weddings, you know, we're actually hosting brides and grooms. That has been impacted as well. So there's no doubt the wedding industry other than that three or four months, small little bubble of pent-up demand, it has been pretty much non-existent for the last year and a half. Wow. I know you've gone through a lot of ways and I've seen the stories that they cover at your store on the news. And so, you know, we're just praying that everybody, every business can get backed up and running. And with the holidays coming along, then we'll just have to pray for the best results and the best businesses for everyone to sustain the rest of the year. You know, when I went to your store, I was amazed and I was like, wow, you guys got more than just flowers here. And then I went back again. So when I recently went back into your store, I wanted to buy a gift for my dear friends, Brian and Scott. And I wanted to give them something that would last a while. So I picked out a living plant arrangement. I saw that you had a great selection. I mean, like amazing tables and tables of a greenery and a little mini gardens. So do many customers look for life plants for gift giving? Definitely. I think plants have become a lot more popular, especially among millennials and that age group. They love the greens. They love the plants. And then what was a real blessing about the plants that we have currently is it allowed us to partner with local farms. So the orchid pots that you see all over our showrooms, they're coming from Waini and then the green pots that as you see on the screen, whether it be the gardens or the succulents, those are coming from the North Shore. So all of these plants that you see in our showroom that we have available for gift giving or just for your own home are locally made and locally grown. So it's a way to support local farmers as well. Wow. So I know that you specialize in making happiness and bringing healthy environments into home and offices with your beautiful floral arrangements and your beautiful plant arrangements. But let's discuss something different again. I keep learning more about Watanabe floral. There's a fresh food market. So I'll just share a little bit about that. I didn't know that one. Well, you know what happened was last year around this time after we were shut down for the second time, the initial shutdown was in April and then the second shutdown was in August through September. When that shutdown happened last year in August, I made a commitment to my workers and to the Watanabe family that we're not gonna get shut down anymore. And if the only way to stay open was to make sure that you have fresh food in the showroom, that's exactly what we're gonna do. So we pivoted, we went into fresh foods, we became registered with the state as a food operation and we started to carry things. Again, the goal was to partner with as many local companies and local people as possible. So most of what you see in our showroom is coming from Aix Hawaii, which is up the street and their chickens are out in the west side and then Alun Farms provide most of the vegetables that we have. Yep, the last year we've had fresh food and we've expanded that line into other things like gift baskets and Honolulu Chip Company and Tepresso and other local companies that we've been able to partner with for the last year. So that's gonna be a part of Watanabe Floro going forward. Wow, see a new concept and ideas have sprung out in this darkness, I should say. But the main focus I know with Watanabe Floro is that you always wanna partner with the local industries and support each other. I think that's what makes Hawaii thrive even though we are in a different situation right now. So to share for Watanabe Floros and for all the creative thinking that you put behind it as well, Monty. So I know also that Watanabe Floro has been involved with many, many, many nonprofits. Please share with us one of these events with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Well, Make-A-Wish is somebody that we've partnered with a number of times over the years and every year for the month of May, which is by far our biggest month of the year, we use that as an opportunity to showcase a charity, raise money for them, but more so than just actually raising funds that you can see in the check there on the screen. It is raising awareness for an entire month, whether it's on our website, in our showroom with collateral materials for them. We believe it's so important. We believe it's so important for the community to all band together to help so many people that are in need. So you can see that we work with Make-A-Wish a couple of times this year. In the month of May, we work with the American Diabetes Association. We also work with Helping Hands Away over the summer to generate a donation drive at our Nimitz showroom for them. But no matter how hard things are, there's always people that are struggling much more than we are. And you can never lose sight of that. And you always have to be willing to continue to do what you can to make the community a better place. And we take that responsibility very, very seriously. And we encourage everybody to do what they can. Mahalo, Mahalo from the communities and for the residents of Hawaii for always having that commitment to serve the community through your business efforts. So Mahalo, Mahalo Nui. I also know that you have an event going on right now because when I was in there, I saw a flyer at the register. So it goes on to the end of October. Just share a real quick shout out for them and what they're all about and invite our viewers to participate in it. Well, this month we're working with Child and Family Services. They've been doing numbers of fundraisers and a number of different people. So what we've done is we've identified four of our most popular arrangements and 10% of the proceeds from these arrangements all month of October are going to go back to Child and Family Services. So if you just go to wasanabefloral.com on the top, you're going to see Child and Family Services Fundraiser. Click on that and there's four pieces there. If you order that by the end of the month, again, 10% of the proceeds for those sales will go back to Child and Family Services. So another way to give back is to try to find a way to help people that do a wonderful job for our community. Wow, and I gotta give a shout out because every year I do the Great Aloha Run and the Great Aloha Run. Every time we go by wasanabefloral, we know that you're going to have your staff and the volunteers out in the front extending their hands and at the end of their hands are roses, mums, whatever you have that you want to share your heart with the participants of the Great Aloha Run and that's something that we always look forward to as we approach your building. So thank you for that and making that beautiful morning even more beautiful with that flower that we get to finish the finish line within our hands. So mahalo to wasanabefloral. No problem, that's so much fun. Every year, every year we look forward to that. So thank you so much. Yeah. Now let's get back to some of the core values of your company. Please share with us some ways that wasanabefloral incorporates sustainable practices in key aspects of your business. Well, we're all about the environment and how we can do things. So when we bring in flowers and we choose farms, we always choose farms that have been certified as sustainable farms. But that's something that's very important. But what can everybody do here locally? And that is to reuse, repurpose, recycle bases. So we encourage people bring your bases even if they're not from wasanabefloral, if they're clean and they're usable, bring them back to wasanabefloral. We will use them again in a piece in the future. But in doing so, you get a credit for your floral purchase. So you can bring in your old bases. We'll immediately give you a credit based on what type of base it is or how many bases you have. And you can take that credit and buy more flowers right there on the spot to take home and enjoy or to gift to somebody else. So we encourage people. Like I said, it doesn't have to be a wasanabefloral base, although that would be nice. But it can be any type of base as long as it's usable and clean. We'll take it and we'll give you a credit that you can use for flowers. Wow, so did you hear that, Hawaii? Okay, it's out there, Chinese out there. Now don't go into your neighbor's house and raid their base shelf because I get a lot of bases and floral arrangements from yours when you guys deliver to me and my office in the past. And these bases, we can only reuse so many. So that's an amazing program. And I always wanted to go and ask you guys, would you take back your bases? You know, like even when we do dry cleaning, I always keep the hangers and I give it back because it's still good, right? The bases are still good and they're still clean because I wash them in and I dry them out. So again, anybody out there listening, do you have any old bases just sitting around the house or your office, start collecting them? And did you know that wasanabefloral would love to take them back and they're gonna give you a store credit. So that means you'll have enough credit that you can put maybe get $5 worth. So that means it's $5 less you have to pay for that dozen of red roses or yellow or rainbow roses. And every bit helps, right, Monty? Well, absolutely. Every little bit helps, you know. So the bases help us because there is a supply chain shortage. So we benefit from that. And then the environment benefits from it. And then of course, the person who brings it in can benefit by leading with flowers as well. Wow. So the program, rethink, reuse, reduce. Yeah, recycle, reduce, reuse, recycle. Yeah, there you go. Rethink, reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle. Yeah, all of the R's, absolutely. Everybody can do their part, especially here in Hawaii. We are an island. We really have to take care of our environment for our take-ease. That's so exciting. I mean, that is the neatest program. And I'm hoping that more and more people can hear and understand that and as well, it may help them so that they can afford to buy more flowers as well as save the environment and helping all of you there at your business because as you said, the supply chain is getting a little bit, there's some challenges and this will help your business as well. So everybody working together, cool with each other to help everyone thrive and be more happy and be able to receive more beautiful arrangements. So great concept, Monty, great concept. Okay. So I know and that you guys have been thriving to reach all the highest levels and we're gonna talk about how you reached that. But I wanted just to say congratulations on receiving the Star Advertiser, Hawaii's Best. I believe it's four years in a row. I'm not sure how far back, but I researched it was 2018, 1920 and 21 that you received the Hawaii's Best first place. And that's an achievement that every little award or accolade because I know when you bring that home to your office, to the store, it shows not just your customers but it gives the pride back to your employees and staff. And that is to me kudos to management then to be able to pass that heart onto the staff employees so that they can have that pride to continue reaching those levels that you so implement and enforce within your system. So please share with us, our audience and our viewers, your mission behind your company. Well, absolutely. And I think that's who we are. And in terms of the Hawaii's Best award, we've actually won that award since it was created back in 2004 when it was the Star Bulletin. So this is the 18 consecutive years of this one. No, no, no problem. But you're so right. I mean, it is not just a symbol just to show off because it's not something that we wanna show off just to the public. It's more for our people to be able to have that pride and that sense of accomplishments which is so important. But our mission is a ho'uma'u puno. Ho'uma'u means to continue to last, to perpetuate, to be willing to change. Pono means doing things as we know with morality and doing things the right way. In the Hawaiian language, when you attach the A to it, it becomes a command. So a ho'uma'u puno means to continue to last by doing things with morality all the time, every time. And that's who we are. And then we support that with our core values. The first is the spirit of aloha. We expect to treat everyone with that spirit of aloha with lots of love, whether it be internally to each other or externally to our guests. We expect that kind of treatment. Our second one is people first. And what we mean by people first and we've kind of already alluded to that. It's not necessarily the customer's always right. That's part of it. But it's more so being selfless and being willing to give, give back to each other, give back to the community, make sure we're putting the guests first and then providing exceptional service. Good's not good enough. Great's not good enough. Exceptional is what we strive for. Are we perfect? Of course not. But we strive to do that every time because we want people to feel like they're part of the Watanabe Floral Ohana. So that is our core values. That is our mission. And that is what has led to the success of Watanabe Floral for the last 75 years because every decision is made by going through those checklists. Can we say yes, yes and yes to these core values? If we can, the decision becomes really easy and that's the decision we make. So that's who we are and that's what makes us successful. I really believe that. Wow. So not only are you aware of what your product, when is purchased and brought to the home and office, exudes health and happiness to the recipients but the health and wellness of your employees are right there in the forefront. And to me, that's part of the success for Watanabe 75 years in business. So congratulations, job well done, mission accomplished and being accomplished. So for the year 2022, do you have any great plans or any ideas or concepts that you wanna share or release with us right now when we have some time? Well, right now what we're doing is we're actually going through a rebrand. So if you pass by Watanabe Floral right now and some people are doing this about a month ago and they're like, oh my God, they're shutting down. The building looks like they're shutting down. We're not shutting down. We're re-changing the building, getting a little bit more brighter, more modern look. Again, exuding that bright and joyful that we have all over our website and our messaging. A new logo that'll be up in the building in the next couple of weeks or so. You can see a preview of that in the hot design hanging outside. But in terms of business, it's continuing to be ready to pivot, continue to try to bring as many people's success as we can, advocating for the wedding industry and advocating for the events industry, trying to buy as much of our product as we can from local farms, trying to find new farms to partner with because the success of the state is gonna come from us working together to make many, many people successful. So that's the plan. There's nothing major, no major announcement. It's gonna be to continue to do what we do and try and help as many people as we can in the process. Well, that's good to know that you're making that statement known to everyone about beautifying your outward structure because that's the first thing you know, we're thinking, oh no, right? But now we have something exciting to share and I'm hoping that the audience will also know that Watanabe is only 75 years young and we've got a lot of future ahead of us. And right now what you are going to do is just rebranding and repurposing and just letting people know that we mahalo you Hawaii as you mahaloed us by your business and corporation. So let us walk you through the next 100 years in health, happiness through the products that you purchased from Watanabe Floral. I think that is superb. So Monty, is there any one experience that you would like to share with us that gives you the most satisfaction when you were or you are at the 24 and a half year mark with Watanabe Floral? I really don't think there's any one thing in particular that stands out. I just think that it's an absolute blessing to be able to do this business or on a daily basis, 90% of the time you're bringing happiness and joy into people's lives. And the other 10% you're bringing some consolation whether it be a sympathy or you're bringing some cheer whether it be a get well soon. But for the most part, our drivers are heroes on a daily basis bringing smiles to everybody that they delivered to. And I just think that's a true blessing because not every business can say that every single day they're making people happy. And that's something that we've got to do for the last 75 years and we're very, very grateful for that. And all the people avoid. Wow, mahalo. As I was going through your website, I noticed you're a wealth of information there. And so anyone just go to their website because what they do is they list all the dates of graduations. And so if you didn't know when your neighbor is gonna graduate from Castle or Farrington go on to their website and then you're gonna see all the beautiful lays and arrangements that they have but you'll be informed with all the dates of importance and mainly the graduation dates because sometimes we just don't keep up with all those dates. But the other thing that I thought was very useful on your website was that you had current information during COVID time especially what were the mandates of the hospitals? Like what are the requirements and what can you do and what you cannot do with the hospitals? When can you deliver and where can you deliver? That was so very thoughtful and so very helpful that I'm just encouraging the viewers to go and look at that. So you have an idea because I had no idea of all those restrictions. So that's amazing, Monti. You've done your homework and your staff has done their homework. So job well done. But so wow, you know, there's so much information and so much beautiful and joy with the products that you work with, Monti. We just, we wouldn't wanna just encourage everyone to just be more involved with sharing that little aloha through a little flower with the leaves and the colors and the smells. But right now we've come to an end and you've been watching Taking Your Health Back on Think Tech Hawaii. Mahalo to Watanabe Foro, General Manager, Monti Pereira for 24 and a half oil years of dedication. You are certainly a representative and I'm sure a part of the O'Hana of the Watanabes and you are great representatives. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and your heart with them and with all of us. And thank you for talking story with us and sharing all of the gifts through your beautiful flowers. I'm Wendy Lo and we'll be back in two weeks with another edition of Taking Your Health Back. Aloha and Mahalo, Monti Pereira.