I’m not sure about you…but I’ve been just a bit “distracted” lately! There just seems to be so much to be concerned with these days. Before Covid, I just had to worry about tomorrow’s work shift. I used to have a busy and profitable restaurant which required 100% of my focus to just keep the “train on the track”.
Now I wonder where my next paycheck, grant or government loan might be coming from in order to remain open. You see we have remained open to save a few jobs and continue to support our local suppliers. Because if “we” close, who buys the bread from the family bakery in Kainaliu, here on Big Island? Who buys the Tortillas made from a small supplier here on the Big Island? Who buys the beef, pasture grazed and processed right here on the Big Island? Who buys the lettuce, tomatoes & avocados grown here on the Big Island? The cost to remain open has been large. As we combated our own situation early on in the pandemic we emphasized with Hawaii Resident’s struggles as well. So what did we do? We lowered prices and adjusted our menus to reflect purchases from local vendors wherever we could. We spent countless hours managing our finances, responding to notices from the DLIR (Unemployment Dept.) and sourcing financial help. After finally securing a PPP Loan (in the second round, only big businesses got in the first) we immediately put people back to work, even though our state’s Governor once again reneged on his promise to open. We burned through the $60k PPP Loan in the 8 weeks as agreed, during that same 8-week period of time, required for loan forgiveness, we did a whopping $31k in sales. So even a business novice can grasp that math!
We begged our creditors to delay payments, where we received much consideration, from our company vehicle finance companies, small business loan lenders and landlord, of course Hawaii Island’s local vendors helped wherever and however they could (it should be known that our insurance companies offered no help and were more than happy and eager to cancel policies). For the weeks following the initial shut-down and when the visitors who were here already had left…weekly sales dropped so low that at one point, they were not even as much as the cost of our employee state mandated health insurance.
While we were focused on all these other things, our largest shipping companies raised cost of shipping the Island’s vital supplies including foods and medicines as much as 43%. We are now beginning to see the effects which equates to “crazy prices” wait til you see how much your health insurance is going to cost. So poof…just like that… behold the $30 Chicken!
Now that state officials have indicated Hawaii will once again be welcoming visitors…or did they? Who knows? Either way we are beginning to prepare for the anxious travelers who have been “stranded on the mainland” for 7 months now. That means adding staff hours and bringing prices back to what we need to charge. We will be revising menus and prices effective Thursday October 15th.
As a business who has remained open at great cost to serve our community (and a huge THANK YOU to those who have supported us) during the entire pandemic, we really hope that you will continue to support us as we transition back to the new normal. Great news is that our everyday best value prices ($5.99 Hawaii Grass Fed Beef, Loaded Burger) will remain in effect at our “Drop in…and Bail Out” Concept, Surf Burger. You can order online too! Simply click surfburger.smartonlineorder.com Or enjoy your $30 Chicken!
Mahalo
Chef Cary
