Busy restaurants require produce suppliers with professional business practices
Matt Thoman, Kitchen Manager, and Krista Donaldson, Sustainability Supervisor
Kona Brewing Company, Kailua-Kona, North Kona
Matt Thoman and Krista Donaldson at Kona Brewing Company, where supporting locally grown produce is a central part of their business philosophy.Kona Brewing Company was founded in 1993 by father and son team Cameron Healy and Spoon Khalsa with the philosophy of “living aloha.” Their company has grown to become the 13th largest craft brewery in the U.S. and their Kailua-Kona restaurant alone reaches $3.5 million dollars in gross revenue per year. With a policy of providing quality food and supporting the local community, about 65% of their produce comes from local sources. “To reach our sustainability goals, we can’t just rest on our successes. We are constantly looking for new produce sources and ways to innovate,” says Matt Thoman, kitchen manager.
By constantly looking for farmers to replace the imported produce they purchase, the percentage of local produce they consume is increasing. For example, the restaurant recently identified a farmer to supply macadamia nuts from within 15 miles of the restaurant, replacing a generic commercial source distributed through an O‘ahu warehouse (even though the nuts were grown on Hawai‘i Island). In addition to being nearby, this source has proven to be cheaper and more reliable than the previous source.
Thoman is currently looking for suppliers for citrus and avocado from local sources—the key for them is to find a consistent, reliable source for several months of the year, if not year-round. Once the restaurant develops a working relationship with a farmer, it commits to purchasing set quantities on a regular schedule. For example, Kona Brewing Company purchases $1200–1500 of greens per week from an organic farmer in Waimea, which supports four farm jobs. The farmer knows he has a reliable customer, and continually improves his practices and varieties to meet the individual needs of the restaurant. In return, the restaurant feels responsible to support the farmer by being a regular customer and not shifting to the cheapest source on a weekly basis. This also serves Kona Brewing Company’s goal to look at the bigger picture of supporting the local community.
Because customers expect it, consistency is the primary requirement that they have for produce suppliers, which extends to availability, size, variety, color, ripeness, delivery time, etc. Another important requirement is good communication about the products and availability. Thoman speaks with his suppliers once or twice a week, sometimes just to check in and say hello, sometimes to go over issues related to supply, such as crop and weather status. To support the kitchen staff in knowing about the sources of their produce, Thoman asks chefs to visit producers from time to time. This gives a new dimension to the relationship with farmers, and further encourages a sense of community.
Finally, Thoman requires his producers to be willing to follow professional business practices. “When you deliver to a restaurant, you have to maintain professional practices just like any distributor,” says Thoman. These include providing business data for tax filing, accepting standard invoicing terms of payment, and being flexible in adapting to working within corporate accounting practices.
This market profile was excerpted with kind permission of the authors from:
Elevitch, C., N. Milne, and J. Cain. 2012. Hawai‘i Island Farmer’s Guide to Accessing Local Markets. Hawai‘i Community College Office of Continuing Education and Training, Center for Agricultural Success, and Permanent Agriculture Resources. http://hawaiihomegrown.net/pdfs/Hawaii-Island-Guide-to-Accessing-Markets.pdf