Question about Small Business in Hilo - To-be transplant from Japan

[HiloDiver]

There already is a BBQ joint in Waimea, and it's not bad. The Fish & The Hog | Kamuela Hawaii's World Famous BBQ & Fresh Island Fish

[HIguild]

hotzcatz,

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Another option might be a Farm restaurant. There used to be one in central Maui where the restaurant's vegetable fields were right outside the restaurant. I think it was mostly a salad bar and sandwich bar for the menu but the vegetables were absolutely fresh. It was some of the best food I've ever had at a restaurant.

These are big in Japan, but many a restaurant only really grows a fraction of what it claims it grows and sells mostly what it gets from neighbors. Low food miles, or sometimes none at all, and fresh ingredients = Win all around.

As a fellow gardener, openD might like my business model here in Japan, which is along the same lines as a Farm restaurant, but much simpler because my inventory grows itself and, like a webshop, patrons can visit 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year.

The model in question is a U-pick Forest Garden. For $5 you can enter the forest garden and fill up a brown paper bag with miscellaneous things. The limit is one bag per person per day. There are scores of things to be harvested throughout the seasons – everything from herbage to shiitake mushrooms to fruiting and nutting trees and bushes, to vegetables to "free range" duck eggs.

It’s great because otherwise people couldn’t get something, but it’s silly because you can just barely squeeze a persimmon into the brown paper bag (They ain't Costco size!), and the bag quadruples as our advert flyer, food menu, entrance ticket and carrier. The bags are distributed with care, so as not to deplete the forest garden.

Anything like this on the Big Island?

Cheers,

HIguild

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by HIguild

Anything like this on the Big Island?

Not that I'm aware of, although I do know someone who could easily do this. She's a retired former Master Gardener who has 3 acres of the most diverse fruit trees and nut trees and vines and shrubs, and she brings her varied harvest to the Farmers Market, but is always complaining that a lot of her fruit goes to waste because she can't pick it all.

I'll show her your post, thanks.

[terracore]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Not that I'm aware of, although I do know someone who could easily do this. She's a retired former Master Gardener who has 3 acres of the most diverse fruit trees and nut trees and vines and shrubs, and she brings her varied harvest to the Farmers Market, but is always complaining that a lot of her fruit goes to waste because she can't pick it all.

I'll show her your post, thanks.

My wife and I would dig something like this if it wasn't too far away.

[HIguild]

terracore,

Originally Posted by terracore

My wife and I would dig something like this if it wasn't too far away.

It really strikes a chord with folks because, from what visitors tell me here: 1. Education is built in. You can bring your kids into a quasi-wild environment and learn stuff about food and the natural environment. 2. Cultural memory. The arboreal and pastoral life hasn't entirely vanished from the human collective unconscious - It feels good to forage directly from the Earth. 3. Less effort. For some it's easier to come here than drive to the nearest food market, and 4. Fresh and Organic.

From a business perspective, the beauty of it is I don't have to do much to make money while I'm forging relationships with the community and not resentment. From every other perspective, it's just makes sense for people and the wider natural world.

The bistro business I want to start in or around Hilo ties in nicely with this meme.

Cheers,

HIguild

[HIguild]

Hey again all,

Just a quick follow up to say that I just got back from a 7 day tour of the Big Island, mostly of South Hilo and Puna districts. I stayed at a vacation home in Leilani Estates and scouted from there. OpenD was right when he said most of my questions would sort themselves out once I spent some time visiting. Pahoa, Hilo and volcano all look great in terms of bistro establishment.

Thanks again,

HIguild

[Tao7213]

Originally Posted by HIguild

Hey again all,

Just a quick follow up to say that I just got back from a 7 day tour of the Big Island, mostly of South Hilo and Puna districts. I stayed at a vacation home in Leilani Estates and scouted from there. OpenD was right when he said most of my questions would sort themselves out once I spent some time visiting. Pahoa, Hilo and volcano all look great in terms of bistro establishment.

Thanks again,

HIguild

HIguild, I know this is an old post, but I read through it and wondered how the venture was going? I learned a lot about the BI from reading this thread.

[838454]

Probably never followed up with it last post was 2.5 years ago, or really busy

[smarino]

I would highly suggest that you get acclimated to what is going to be a huge cultural change before getting too far into any business schemes. Not sure if you mentioned buying property, but again, don't do anything like that until you get a feel for things, as neighborhoods are in flux these days. No matter what your intentions may be, you will still have to deal w/ what life on the B.I. throws at you. I wouldn't send my kids to anything but a private school like St. Joseph's in Hilo.

Domestic engineer. That's cute. You might be better off in California, since you already think and speak the lingo :]

Whoops, caught out by the Old Post curse once again. More coffee! It's the story of my life. I have all the answers to questions that aren't relevant to anything anymore.

[838454]

Still relevant to the current state of things on BI