TheBuzz
TheBuzz
French twist
Flaky deal with an international
hotel chain is a good move
for a Hawaii companyHigh-falutin' guests of the super-swanky St. Regis Hotel in New York City may not realize they are dining on croissant and Danish made in Hawaii.
In fact, more than 250 hotels owned and operated by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. will be serving pastries made with dough that's made by Iwilei-based French Gourmet Inc.
Starwood awarded the open-ended contract as a means to eliminate local bakery purchases in its various markets, according to corporate chef Richard Faeh. The pastry products "match perfectly with the quality, cost and labor constraints of the hotel industry," he said.
It's French Gourmet's largest contract to date, said founder and President Patrick Novak, and it will result in a bit of expansion for the company's local operations.
DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM
Patrick Novak, president of French Gourmet, held up a case of frozen croissants that were ready to ship out yesterday. The company won a national contract with Starwood Hotels & Resorts to supply the chain with pastries.
"We're doing some adjustment to capital equipment to take on the new business. We're hiring people as well," he said. Fourteen people will be added throughout the company's departments for a total of 66 employees.
In 1984, the company's only employee made the dough, delivered to the old Hawaiian Regent Hotel -- its only client -- and washed the dishes as well. It was Novak.
Since those early days French Gourmet's client list has grown to four- and five-star hotels on Guam, and in Hong Kong and Singapore.
The company's attention turned eastward to the mainland but it had to allay negative perceptions about its ability to provide regular service, said Linda Coffman, French Gourmet vice president and sales director.
In order to woo business from the mainland food service sector the company set up operations there, including a cold storage warehouse in Los Angeles.
The fruits of those expansion labors now comprise 70 percent of the company's business, Coffman said. In addition to hotels, clients include gourmet markets with in-store bakeries such as Gelson's in Los Angeles and others in the Midwest.
Clients have been added through sales pitches directly to major chains as well as appearances at gourmet food trade shows "skewed to our customers," she said.
With all those mainland customers, the West Coast dockworker dispute has Novak worried for his company and others.
French Gourmet moved to stave off any hiccups in service to clients by sending extra inventory to its Los Angeles cold storage facility.
"We produce everything in Hawaii, ship it and store in L.A.," Coffman said. The distribution network takes it from there.
The "everything" includes ready-to-bake croissant and Danish items; its product line also includes puff pastry sheets and a scoop-and-bake muffin batter.
Customers benefit from reduced waste with minimal leftovers and increased freshness because they bake as needed, Coffman said.
"That's going to draw a lot of attention," he said, as competitors in the hotel industry keep an eye on each other.
"They're going to be looking for us now, which will be quite welcome," Novak said.
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
