Zippy’s owner stretches out catering arm

The parent company of Zippy’s and other food businesses has expanded its reach in Oahu’s meetings and events market, opening Pomai­ka‘i Ballrooms at Dole Cannery.

FCH Enterprises Inc., which has run A Catered Affair from the Hawaii Okinawa Center in Wai­pahu for about a decade, will be able to capitalize on its food service buying and preparation networks and further diversify its catering operations. Hawaii-based FCH, which began in 1966, also operates Napoleon’s Bakery, Osaka Oka­zuya, Kahala Sushi and Food Solutions International, which sells packaged foods to retailers and big-box stores in Hawaii and across the nation.

The ballrooms opened May 12 and can accommodate groups of 25 to 1,100 people. They will allow the company to tap into the burgeoning kama­aina corporate market while also competing for a share of Oahu’s recovering group visitor business.

While Hawaii’s business and group travel market dropped drastically during the recession, and its aftermath, meetings, conventions and incentives business rose 10.3 percent during the first half of 2013. The Global Business Travel Association has forecast global spending on business travel will rise 5.4 percent to $1.12 trillion by year’s end with more growth expected through 2017.

In addition to the improving business travel climate, Pomai­ka‘i should benefit from expansion and reinvestment in Iwilei and Kakaako, said FCH President Paul S. Yokota.

"We were looking for a downtown catering venue that could accommodate social and business events for about two years," Yokota said. "We were fortunate to find a space of this scale that offered plenty of flexibility and parking. We’ve made significant investment to bring the quality to a level that we can attract everything from social events and weddings to intimate parties and large meetings, conferences and association events."

Yokota declined to discuss FCH’s investment in Pomai­ka‘i, but Jeff Marcello, the venue’s general manager, said the former Dole Ballroom has been completely refurbished.

"We’ve replaced everything from the air-conditioning system to the sound system, from redoing the kitchen and replacing the lighting, carpeting, wallpaper and ceilings," Marcello said.

FCH also hired architect and designer Robert Domingo to overhaul the aesthetics so that the ballrooms could compete with large Waikiki venues at resorts like the Hilton Hawaiian Village, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, the Sheraton Waikiki, the Kahala Hotel and the Hyatt Regency Waikiki’s new $2 million Kou Ballroom, which opened in September making another 3,087 square feet of function space available.

Pomaika‘i adds the Hoku­lei ballroom, about 11,000 square feet that can be divided into five smaller rooms, and the Pii­lani Ballroom, a 7,400-square-foot room that can be divided into three, to the mix. There’s also a 6,000-square-foot lobby with two service bars, Wi-Fi and parking, including valet service for large events.

FCH also beefed up Pomai­ka‘i’s food and beverage, bringing in chefs Freddie Billena, formerly of the Outrigger Reef, and Nelson Kawai-Yama­gata, formely of the Halekulani, to head the kitchen staff and fine-tune the menu.

While the company is best known for serving local favorites like fried chicken and loco moco at the 24 Zippy’s restaurants in the isles, Marcello hopes the beef tenderloin loco moco with cabernet sauce served in the ballrooms will develop its own following.

"The menu is based on tried and true local favorites," Billena said. "We also have developed a more health-conscious menu that includes items like fried rice and musubi made with oatmeal instead of rice. Items that have less fat and meat and carbs are popular with companies that have corporate wellness programs."

Yokota and Marcello, who once worked together at Prince Resorts Hawaii, also see opportunities to use economies of scale from their other food interests to compete against Waikiki.

"Waikiki lunch buffets typically run about $40, while ours are around $26. We have lower food prep costs and more buying power because of our other businesses," Marcello said.

Keith Vieira, senior vice president of operations for Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Hawaii and French Polynesia, said competition for group business is brutal among Waikiki ballrooms. However, he wishes FCH well since another successful venue could bring additional business travelers to Waikiki hotels.

"If it gives meeting planners another venue to sell, ultimately hotels could see more room nights sold," Vieira said.