Controversial Aloha Poke plans on mainland expansion

The Chicago-based Aloha Poke restaurant chain — which infuriated Hawaiians and Hawaii residents last year by trademarking the terms “Aloha” and “Poke” and threatening other businesses also using those terms in their names — plans to expand to 100 restaurants across the mainland within three years.

Aloha Poke CEO Chris Birkinshaw did not respond to requests for comment from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Monday through his Facebook page or his company’s email account.

But state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, (D, Kailua- Kaneohe), who traces his family’s Hawaiian lineage back seven generations on the Windward side, said the outrage over Aloha Poke’s trademark is helping to inspire state legislators to find protections for island businesses and products.

He called Aloha Poke’s expansion plans “rubbish.”

“These guys wouldn’t know aloha if it hit them in the face,” Keohokalole said. “It’s evidenced by their business practices.”

Aloha Poke currently has 18 locations — from Chicago to Washington, D.C., to Florida, according to its website, which features images of shakas and an FAQ section on franchise opportunities.

Birkinshaw, 38, told the Chicago Tribune in a story published Monday that Aloha Poke plans to have 100 restaurants opened by the end of 2022 and is targeting St. Louis; Detroit; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City, Mo.; Orlando, Fla.; Atlanta; Nashville, Tenn.; and the Carolinas.

“It’s aggressive but I think we’ve got everything it takes,” Birkinshaw told the Chicago Tribune. “We have the leadership, smart advisory, the right infrastructure and supporting processes to make this a reality.”

Two new stores in San Diego and Los Angeles were closed last year because they were too far from Aloha Poke’s supply chain and corporate offices, the Tribune reported.

Birkinshaw did not address the controversy that his company unleashed last year — shortly after he took over Aloha Poke — by sending cease-and-desist letters to some businesses that had versions of “Aloha” and “Poke” in their names.

At least four unrelated poke stores in Texas; California; Anchorage, Alaska; and Bishop Street downtown received letters from Aloha Poke, according to Dr. Kalamaoka’aina Niheu, coordinator for the “No Aloha Poke Company” movement and author of a Change.org petition asking that Aloha Poke remove both words from its company name.

She said using “Aloha” to sell poke by Aloha Poke “is a complete betrayal of the very fundamental description of the word aloha, which is love and the recognition of the breath of life of another human being. It’s a complete disregard for our people and our culture and our way of life.”

Niheu said that Jeff Sampson, the owner of the Aloha Poke Shop downtown, ignored the cease-and-desist letter.

But the Kahele family in Alaska — owners of the Aloha Poke Stop — reacted to their letter by changing their business name to Lei’s Poke Stop.

“They were very fearful of the ramifications,” Niheu said. “The Kahele ohana is a lot less financially well off. They have reason to be fearful. They thought they were powerless against this gigantic corporation.”

The Change.org petition has now been shared more than 43,000 times, viewed over 344,000 times and attracted over 174,000 signatures, according to Change.org spokeswoman Sydney Dobkin.

The letters from Aloha Poke also led to a protest in front of an Aloha Poke restaurant in Chicago in August 2018 by an estimated 200 Native Hawaiians and their supporters.

They carried signs that read “Aloha is Not For Sale,” blew conch shells and shouted “Ku‘e Aloha Poke,” or resist or oppose Aloha Poke.

Earlier, state legislators had called for the creation of a task force to look at ways to protect Native Hawaiian intellectual property and products.

Keohokalole expects to be on the task force and said its work has yet to begun.

But Keohokalole is already looking at how some indigenous tribes are branding products on the mainland, as well as how the Toi Iho Maori trademark is used in New Zealand on products that “are either native made or produced by a company that is native owned,” Keohokalole said.

Aloha Poke’s expansion plans comes amid protests at the base of Mauna Kea against the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope and is helping to galvanize Hawaiian protests, Keohokalole said.

Anger over Aloha Poke’s legal threats are “reflective of this broader issue that TMT has come to symbolize,” Keohokalole said. “People are feeling marginalized and ignored and trampled over.”