Some big numbers are flying around the head of Russell Hata, chairman and CEO of Y. Hata & Co., these days.

It’s not just the more than 100 years that Y. Hata has been in business.

The numbers include 45,000, as in square feet for the new ChefZone the company is building at 2888 Ualena St. near the airport which will be more than just a place for the food service industry to buy groceries, steam table pans and paper towels.

"There is nothing like it in Hawaii," said Hata, who also is founder and president of ChefZone.

The beyond-cavernous warehouse space, due to open in October or November, is designed to serve restaurant operators large and small as a wholesale, cash-and-carry outlet well beyond what Y. Hata now offers on Sand Island Access Road.

Contained in the 45,000 square feet are 25,000 square feet of dry-goods displays, 7,800 square feet of refrigerated chill area and 4,600 square feet of glassed-in freezer space.

Some 440 square feet will be devoted to the tabletop showroom display of china, glassware, silverware and other tabletop accessories.

There’s also a figure north of 6,000, representing the number of food service products, beverages, refrigerated and frozen foods, restaurant supplies, Asian specialty items, kitchen equipment and more that will be housed under one roof, not to mention the 35,000 special-order products that will be available to wholesale and nonprofit customers.

ChefZone is not just a store, however.

The cleverly named Entree-preneurship center will help food service operators learn to run their businesses more efficiently and economically, as well as how to market themselves. Assistance will include menu development, food costing, graphic design, website development and other services. The demonstration kitchen will be used by suppliers to show off new products and to train food-service operators. Certification programs also will be offered, said Hata.

"We’re focused on the local market," he said.

Classes might include HACCP training, for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, which pertains to food safety from biological, chemical and physical hazards in terms of handling and preparation. Such training already is offered through partners of the Hawaii Restaurant Association, but Hata says their classes will serve as a supplement.

The city will require restaurants to post a grading placard starting at the end of the month, and "that’s going to put a little added pressure on the restaurants," so additional training opportunities will help the industry, said Roger Morey, HRA executive director.

As for the overall concept of ChefZone, "it’s going to be a really good thing for chefs … and if it’s good for chefs, it’s good for the industry," Morey said.

ChefZone will have no membership fee, unlike Costco and Sam’s Club, where mom-and-pop restaurateurs often can be seen pushing flatbed shopping carts.

"I think it’ll be fantastic," said Brandon Lam, executive vice president of La Tour Bakehouse. Via Y. Hata, ChefZone will be able to offer "more specialized items that Costco doesn’t carry. It’s always so busy, and sometimes things are out of stock because consumers are buying tons of it as well," he said.

ChefZone officials approached La Tour about being a main bread supplier. "They wanted to focus on a local product for bread," Lam said.

While La Tour also bakes specialty breads for its own wholesale accounts for restaurants and hotels, orders generally need to be placed two days in advance, and the company has minimum order requirements.

They still will service those wholesale accounts, but the ChefZone agreement will provide La Tour with consistent order volume that they can bake and drop off early each morning. ChefZone "will manage the inventory and do the sales, and it will be less time-consuming for us," and their bread products likely will gain a new audience that will realize cost savings through the volume-based pricing ChefZone will be able to offer, Lam said. Rather than paying a 10-loaf unit price, customers can take advantage of, say, a 500-loaf unit price, he said.

"We’re very excited for them to open," Lam said. "It helps us. They’re not competing with us; they’re partnering with us."

To shop at ChefZone, those in the food service industry and nonprofit organizations that use commercial food-service products need only register online and offer proof of a general excise tax license and federal ID number.

Y. Hata will continue to deliver food products and supplies to its larger clientele, and it will maintain its industry-focused facility on Sand Island Access Road, Hata said.

ChefZone is intended for the independent restaurants, caterers and, say, food truck operators whose orders may be too small to qualify for delivery minimums, or who just need to stop in for five dozen eggs or 100 cups of sugar (roughly the amount contained in an industry-size 50-pound bag).

Some 100 parking spaces will be available around the large facility.

The development team for ChefZone is deeply and roundly experienced and, among many others, includes Steve Sue, whose career includes mega-resort development, retail branding, software development and the Lemonade Alley entrepreneurship challenge for kids; Bruce Varney, a 30-year veteran of the wholesale and retail food, beverage, furniture and distribution industries; Development Director Margot Saka­zaki, whom Hata hired away from the Hono­­lulu Japa­nese Chamber of Commerce; and General Manager Matt Bono, who served with Restaurant Depot, a mainland chain of restaurant industry wholesale stores with more than 100 locations in 27 states.

Hata is "very pioneering in his forward thinking, to diversify and to take the level of his services to the next generation," said Kelvin Ro, owner and chef of Diamond Head Market & Grill.

Not having such a facility as ChefZone, the industry has not known what it has been missing, Ro said, but once it opens, Hata will be "educating (his) customer base on a new venue, or shopping concept, opening their options to a wider market," he said.

Given Ro’s continuing service to the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Kapiolani Community College, he also believes the next wave of Hawaii chefs will benefit from the products and services offered by ChefZone.

"It’s almost as if (ChefZone and Y. Hata) are taking great pains to gain insight, like a crystal ball, into what our needs are going to be in the future," Ro said.

"This kind of company that not only looks out for us, but anticipates our future needs, is making our job easier, our life easier and making our final product better," said Ro.