Aala Meat Market offers full menu

Four generations of the Chong family have kept Aala Meat Market serving restaurants statewide

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AFTER SEVEN DECADES, Aala Meat Market Inc. has transformed from a one-man meat stand in Chinatown to a competitive wholesale, retail and meat processing operation on Waiakamilo Road in Kalihi.

Four generations of the Chong family have been a part of the thriving business, which opened in 1934, and now offers a full line of food products to more than 100 restaurants statewide.

The company has seen revenue quadruple over the past 10 years through the hard work and loyalty of family members, which include Matthew and Jonathan Moribe, who started in the business at 5 years old.

The great-grandsons of founder Yee Tim Chong, now in their 20s, plan to eventually take over the company to keep the family's legacy alive for generations to come.

When Chong started the now 73-year-old company, he ran a 200-square-foot, one-man stall at Chinatown's old Otani Fish Market on River Street.

Today, Aala Meat Market -- named after the nearby Aala Park --- has 19 employees who operate a 9,000-square-foot operation, just two miles from its original location.

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AT 5 years old, Matthew and Jonathan Moribe would accompany their grandfather on meat deliveries every Saturday in exchange for a can of soda, a treat that was forbidden at home.

The boys would run invoices in to the mom-and-pop customers of Aala Meat Market Inc., and often would return with a free soda or snack, which made the work worthwhile.

"It was a treat for us," Jonathan said. "It was like an incentive to work."

The brothers, now in their 20s, still go on occasional deliveries, but for the most part, they are the fourth-generation backbone of the business, founded in 1934 by their great-grandfather, Yee Tim Chong.

The 73-year-old company is far from the 200-square-foot, one-man stall run by Chong at Chinatown's old Otani Fish Market on River Street.

Aala Meat Market, named after the nearby Aala Park, now has 19 employees who operate a 9,000-square-foot meat processing, wholesale and retail operation in Kalihi at 751 Waiakamilo Road, just two miles from its origin.

The company, which primarily focuses on wholesaling, has been at its current location for 15 years since their late grandfather, Donald Chong, who took over in 1955, expanded the business -- purchasing the land and building a federally regulated processing plant to ensure its long-term survival.

The company was strategically positioned near the freeway and pier, where up to 80,000 pounds of meat is imported from the mainland each week.

The high volume business also imports free-range beef from the Big Island and Maui for its small retail operation.

Foreseeing an increasingly competitive meat market, Donald, who died in 2002, created a one-stop shop, which now offers a full line of products including beef, pork, poultry, seafood, dairy, frozen vegetables and dry goods. It even sells exotic specialty meats like rabbit, buffalo and snake upon request.

The business, which services a number of government contracts and sells products to more than 100 restaurants statewide, has quadrupled over the past 10 years.

That's when the brothers decided to step in.

Matthew runs the warehouse while Jonathan heads operations, working alongside their mother, Sandy, who is company president. Their grandmother, Amy Chong, 76, still handles all the banking, accounting and legal work.

The tight-knit family business also includes Sandy's brother, Michael Chong; sister, Debbie Uyematsu; and niece, Sarah Uyematsu, who run the office. Even the family's Chinese Shar Pei, Dim Sum, acts as a security guard during working hours.

The company, which processes 10,000 to 15,000 pounds of meat daily, has had to deal with escalating shipping and utility costs, which have risen 50 percent over the past five years.

Meanwhile, wholesale prices have grown only 10 percent during the same period.

To deal with the increases, the family has concentrated on eliminating waste and pilferage and being flexible with customer orders and deliveries.

"The business has provided well for our family so you got to take care of what you have," said Matthew, 27, who works full time loading trucks and stocking the warehouse during the day and at the U.S. Air National Guard at night.

Both Matthew and Jonathan have sacrificed their social lives to work a minimum 10 to 14 hours a day, six days a week.

"A lot of times people think because you work with family you get it easy," said Jonathan, 25, who wakes up at 4:15 each morning to oversee the daily meat processing. "For us, it's the opposite. Because you're family... you got to work even harder than the workers."

The brothers, who received college degrees before joining the company, learned each aspect of the operation from the ground up, so that they could always fill in if someone gets sick or an employee doesn't show up.

That same passion for the business is shared by their mother, Sandy, who started in the company when she was 16 years old and has been its chief executive for the last 10 years.

"We basically didn't go to college... my father said 'no you come to work,' " she said. "He just wanted us to run the business so we listened because we were obedient."

Sandy honed her business skills as a teenager watching her father, whom she describes as an extremely bright and shrewd businessman. Her father also taught her the value of hard work and loyalty to family.

Decades later, those same traits were passed down to her children, who would help unload containers or clean up the shop for their grandfather before going fishing or going out to play.

"We were brought up to work hard," Matthew said, adding that his passion is to eventually take over the family business.

"The business has grown beyond the scope of my husband's expectations," said grandmother, Amy. "He would be very proud to see that his grandchildren are there...following in his footsteps."