28th Annual ALA Hawaii Food Show creates jumping off point for local businesses to shine globally
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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
28th annual Daniel K. Akaka ALA Hawaii Food Show
HONOLULU (KHON2) — For 28 years, Hawaiʻi-based food vendors have had the chance to shine at the Daniel K. Akaka ALA Hawaiʻi Food Show, sampling their products to military buyers such as the Navy Exchanges, Defense Commissary Agency, etc. UH Mānoa dining has a hidden food court for everyone Originally started in 1997 by Senator Daniel K. Akaka at the Turtle Bay Resort, it was named in his honor in 2018. The show gives vendors opportunities not only to promote their brand, but also to get their products into consideration for commissary and exchange shelves. 'Every year I come, this gets bigger and bigger, more suppliers, more opportunity to bring in local products,' said Robert Culbreth, Director of Sales for Non-Fresh Foods. 'It's a great partnership, it's good for our military customers, it's great for the state of Hawaiʻi.' 'It's an honor to be considered as a potential vendor for the commissaries,' said Jan Hori, owner of Hawaiian Pie Co. 'To be able to share our love of pie with other military families.' But it's not just for vendors to do business. Some say that getting a taste of the Hawaiian Islands for the military is equally important.'One item that I'm featuring is 100% Hawaiian-grown macadamia nuts. These are from the Big Island of Hilo, and if anything says Hawaiʻi, it's Kona Coffee, which I also sell, and the macadamia nut,' said Steven Mulgrew, President of Mulvadi Corporation, and a vendor at the show since 1997. 'So hopefully this year – we got this into Costco and Longs, we'd like to get this into the military, into our military friends and families.' 'We're taking care of our military members and their families; they're part of our ʻohana,' said Sharon Zambo-Fan, Chairperson for ALA Hawaiʻi, when asked about the importance of the event. 'So by providing local items in the commissaries and exchanges, it's a great benefit for our military.' Over six thousand local products have been selected for commissary and exchange shelves, including Uncle's Handmade Ice Cream, Diamond Bakery, Aloha Shoyu, Hawaiian Sun, and much more. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news Commissary shoppers save an average of 34% on products in Hawaiʻi. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
28th Annual ALA Hawaii Food Show creates jumping off point for local businesses to shine globally
It's a great opportunity to sell products and meet one-on-one with key Defense Commissary Agency and Military Exchange buyers. We're talking about the ALA Hawaii Food Show. Sign-ups are happening now for the 28-th show, held August 19, 2025.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Yahoo
Nationwide doorstep delivery getting closer for commissary customers
RICHMOND, Va. — Commissary officials are getting close to awarding a contract for the doorstep delivery of groceries, said John Hall, director of the Defense Commissary Agency. 'We need this. Our customers want and need this contract,' Hall said during a meeting of the American Logistics Association in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday. 'I'm really excited about this.' Hall did not provide a specific timeline for the broader rollout of the service, which is currently limited to select pilot locations. 'There are some hurdles left,' he said. 'We're going to work really hard to get over it.' According to the contract solicitation documents, delivery service would be available to eligible customers living within a 20-mile radius of commissaries in the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The solicitation requires the service to start initially at 70 locations, but gives the Defense Commissary Agency the ability to add any of the remaining 108 commissaries at any time. Commissary officials aren't considering doorstep delivery for overseas commissaries, due to overseas regulatory constraints. There are about 3.4 million eligible households living within a 20-mile radius of those 178 commissaries, which sell discounted groceries as a benefit to active duty, Guard and Reserve members, military retirees, Medal of Honor recipients and their authorized family members. Veterans with any Department of Veterans Affairs-documented, service-connected disability rating also have commissary privileges. Officials launched a pilot program in 2022 for deliveries at eight commissaries, including Scott Air Force Base, Illinois; Fort Bragg South, North Carolina; MacDill Air Force Base, Florida; Fort Belvoir and Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Naval Base San Diego in California. Delivery costs has been an issue in the service rollout. Officials are trying to keep delivery costs for customers as low as possible, Hall said. 'We want it comparable to what they would pay at a local grocery chain [for delivery],' he said. When the pilot first launched in 2022, most delivery fees hovered around $4 per order. Customers pay the fee in addition to the cost of groceries, the 5% commissary surcharge, and, if desired, a tip for the driver. But those low delivery fees made it financially difficult for the two companies handling the deliveries to cover operating costs like gas prices and drivers' salaries. One of the companies, ChowCall, took over all the deliveries at the eight commissaries in March 2023, and was allowed to set prices to cover its costs. The cost depends on the miles driven, ranging from about $16 to about $30. ChowCall has delivered more than 28,000 commissary orders from the eight pilot locations, according to Todd Waldemar, founder and CEO of ChowCall. Information is not yet available about whether the delivery fee will be subsidized in some way by the commissary system under the new contract. Customers using the delivery service at the eight pilot stores buy nearly three times as much per order as customers shopping in person at commissaries, according to Hall. The average shopping basket is about $185 for customers using the delivery service, compared to the average basket of about $65 per trip for those shopping inside the stores. For those using the curbside pickup service available at all commissaries, the average order is about $120, according to Hall. 'Think about how much more benefit we can deliver to our customers, how much more we can combat food insecurity when we get this delivery contract in place,' Hall said.
