ChefZone Wholesale Membership Club to Offer 1-Stop Solution for Hawaii’s Foodservice Industry
45,000-Square-Foot Facility to Feature Entrée-preneurshipCenter with Demonstration Kitchen, Tabletop Showroom and Business Center to Help Partners Succeed
HONOLULU – ChefZone, Oahu’s first one-stop wholesale club for the foodservice industry, will open for business in 2014, founder Russell Hata announced today.
Hata is chairman and CEO of ChefZone’s parent firm, Y. Hata & Company, Limited, a Honolulu-based foodservice distributor celebrating 100 years of doing business in Hawaii.
Located five minutes away from Honolulu International Airport, ChefZone is a 45,000-square-foot membership club designed for independent restaurants, catering companies, food trucks and organizations that use commercial foodservice products.
“Our goal in creating ChefZone is to provide value-added services to our existing customers through the Entrée-preneurship Center, and supporting smaller operations by saving them time and money,” Hata said.
“We’ll provide everything our members need to succeed, from restaurant supplies to food products, along with business support for menu and food costing, graphic design, printing, website development and much more.”
ChefZone will feature a complete product mix with more than 6,000 SKU offered in bulk size as well as in eaches. All major product categories will be available, including fresh meat, fresh produce, dairy, frozen food, seafood, groceries, baked goods, Asian/ ethnic products, disposables, cleaning supplies, restaurant supplies and foodservice equipment.
ChefZone will be located at 2888 Ualena St. in Honolulu. More information is available at www.chefzone.com or by calling 808-852-6700.
About ChefZone
ChefZone, the Cash & Carry division of Y. Hata & Company, is a one-stop wholesale club for restaurants, catering companies and all other foodservice operators and organizations. Russell Hata is founder and president of ChefZone and chairman and CEO of Y. Hata & Company, Ltd.
ChefZone is scheduled to open for business in the third quarter of 2014. Located five minutes away from Honolulu International Airport, ChefZone is a 45,000-square-foot, one-stop solution featuring over 6,000 foodservice and restaurant supply products in both bulk and broken cases.
History of Y. Hata & Company, Limited
Launched as a “mom and pop” operation in 1913 by Japanese immigrants Yoichi and Naeko Hata, Y. Hata & Company, Limited, is now among the premier foodservice distributors in the Pacific Region.
The Hatas started their business in Hilo, Hawaii, where they sold wholesale food products out of a backyard warehouse/garage. Five of Yoichi and Naeko’s ten children were instrumental in developing the family business from a modest operation into the state of Hawaii’s largest food distributor by the 1960s.
When competition in the foodservice industry intensified, grandson Russell Hata took over as managing director in 1991. By acquiring a military contract in 1997, he returned Y. Hata to profitability.
Russell left soon thereafter to pursue other interests. In 2008, Russell returned to Y. Hata with the aim of renewing company growth through initiatives such as ChefZone.
