TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Doughnuts and sushi
a winning comboICH Group LLC is not a household name but its three food concepts are everywhere and growing. Of Sushi Chef, Catch of the Day Sushi and Dunkin' Donuts Hawaii, the latter two are revving up for statewide expansion.
Dunkin' Donuts has been airing radio and television spots for a few weeks to prime the pump.
The chain's "Dunkin' Man" and "Rocket Man," have been spotted downtown handing out samples of "Munchkins" and the company's Arabica-bean coffee for two reasons, according to ICH Executive Director Dean Matsushima.
The first is that for the month of April the company will offer free downtown delivery from 6 to 11 a.m. with a day-ahead, minimum order of two dozen doughnuts; it's an introductory program. "People can contact us at 550-Go-D-D, as we like to say," he said.
The second reason is that the company is scouting locations for a downtown store. "We've had a tremendous amount of inquiries from the downtown area, demanding that we open up a Dunkin'," Matsushima said. It's one of several locations being scouted on Oahu and neighbor islands.
Internet connections are coming to DDs, beginning with King's Village in Waikiki followed perhaps at Pearl City, Kapiolani Kailua and the Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe stores.
Customers who carbo-load at DD may see coffee being poured out on a routine basis; it happens every 18 minutes, to be exact. It's a quality control thing, Matsushima said. Perhaps it would no longer be good enough for Dunkin's cream with its 18 percent butterfat content. Premium ice cream averages 12 to 14 percent, he said.
"We're blowing away a lot of people," with a new fund-raising program, Matsushima said. The Dunkin' Doubler card is purchased for $5, half of which goes to charity. The card is then used for five buy-one-get-one-free dozens of doughnuts.
Some 10,000 customers have signed up for a different ICH card called "Mahalo Plus." It's a loyalty program for customers of both DDs and Catch of the Day Sushi, the company's sit-down "kaiten-style" sushi concept which also serves everything from dim sum to haupia and other local favorites. Program rewards range from discounted purchases to a Caribbean cruise. There are customers who've racked up 600,000 to 800,000 points, Matsushima said, "they're going for it."
Dunkin' Donuts and Catch of the Day are co-located across from the Hawaii Convention Center and in Pearl City near the Waiau power plant while other "Catch" stores are at Market City Shopping Center and in Mililani Town Center, but that number too will grow as ICH is setting up a franchising structure for the restaurant.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com