April 2022 Executive Director’s Message

The HHRS team consists of The Hawaii Restaurant Association, The Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association and Star Events who all worked tirelessly to make sure this year’s Hawaii Hotel and Restaurant Show was our best one yet.

And it was a huge success on all targets –  our most successful Hawaii Hotel and Restaurant Show to date! 

Our first target was to have a sold out show! With 112 exhibitors reserving over 200 booths, it was a  sold out show! Next year we will be reserving a larger space! 

Second target, to be a World Class Event. Companies as far as Tokyo, Japan and all over the United States attended.  We may now confidently state that our goal to be a World Class event has been obtained, we have hit that mark!

Next target, to increase attendance – over 4,750 people pre-registered to attend this year’s show. The final number including the number of walk-ins will be coming shortly. The 2022 pre-registration number was up from 2019. 

Another target – to feature new innovation in the foodservice industry and to showcase the latest in products and services. The robots were definitely one of the stars of the show, especially with their demo as they cooked & served fried rice on the spot. There were some really amazing new products, apps and tools to check out—it’s always exciting to see all the cool innovations our industry has to offer.

Next target, to ensure our Educational Seminars delivered valuable and timely topics. To name a few speakers, The Department of Health – Food Safety Branch, The Honolulu Liquor Commission, The Honolulu Recycling Program Branch Chief, the SBA, Dale Carnegie and Sysco’s Evolution of Food Service seminars were all very informative and well attended. 

The best part of the show? The fact that business was conducted on the show floor.. Business deals were made between vendors and restaurant owners who saw what they needed, and finally were able to put a face to a voice.

I would like to personally thank all of our sponsors for their commitment to the first large convention center show after two years. Sysco, Domino’s,  ABC Corporation, UHA Insurance,  Hawaii Gas, Indonesian Trade Promotion Center of Los Angeles, Enterprise Rent a Car, Waikiki Trolley, Peterson Sign Company a division of GP Roadway Solutions, VEDGECo and our ad sponsor: JPG Hawaii!  Your support of the foodservice industry and HHRS is greatly appreciated! 

HRA Educational Foundation would like to thank all the contributors who donated items to our Silent Auction. The money raised will support the Hawaii ProStart culinary program in our local high schools. https://hraef.org/ As the Hawaii ProStart culinary program develops our future chefs and food service staff, your support is greatly appreciated. Any questions in regards to the Hawaii ProStart culinary program, please feel free to reach out to me. 

On a personal note, meeting all our targets to produce a successful show, of course, is very important. Although the most important part of HHRS was getting our foodservice industry together again after 2 rough years. I really missed seeing and being with everyone in our industry and from all the excitement and happiness to see each other again, I know many of you felt the same way. 

If you’ve never attended HHRS before, I hope you’ll join us in 2023 for a larger event with even more to offer! 

If you would like to reserve a booth for our 2023 show, let me know! 

Our next HRA event will be our June 30th HRA Golf Tournement Presented by HMAA. Just a friendly reminder, our 2021 Golf Tournament sold out quickly and I am confidently stating we will sell out again this year, so please register early! 

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