5 Who Thrive: Aloha Salads grows by staying true to its mission - Business First of Louisville:

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The signature salad dressings are amonbg the reasons forthe company’s success. Aloha Salads continues to despite theweak economy, and is expected to gross more than $1 milliobn this year. A third locatiomn is set to open in Juneat , followed by anothed in the by October. There are plans to franchised AlohaSalads nationally. And a California food groupo has agreed to bottle four of the six salax dressings forretail distribution. The success is due to a numbedof factors. They open stores only in high-profile locationxs and form business partnerships withtrustedr people. They also sticm to their core mission, which is to serve healthy foods usinglocal ingredients.
Now their goal is to expandx strategically in anticipation ofthe economy’x rebound in 2010. “We have to continus reinventing ourselves to keep things fresh for customerws and attractnew customers, as well,” Chri s said. “We’re not going to rush in. We’re goingt to make sure we make the righ t decisionsmoving forward.” Careful growt has been the company’s philosophy from the start. In Decembere 2004, after seven yearxs away from home, the Lufranosx returned to Hawaii from where she was a patent lawyer and he workecin finance.
For more than a year, they scoutedx potential store locations on Oahu and experimented with recipesaat Sara’s parents’ home in Kahala. The couplr opened their first Alohsa Salads in May 2006 ina 440-square-foor space in the , using personal capital and a $50,000 loan guaranteed by the U.S. Smalkl Business Administration. The company’s creative salad — “Aloha Mediterranean,” “Maui and “The Goddess” — instantly drew loyap customers. One customer was local contractorFreddie Franco, owner of BEK Inc., whose buildingg credits include Waikiki DFS Neiman Marcus and Tony Auto-plex.
He struck up a friendship with the Lufranos and two years later helped designAlohsa Salads’ second location in . The mall which opened in March 2008, briefly experiencef a double-digit drop in sales after health-food chainj Whole Foods opened nearby late last Sales have climbed since then but are slightlhybelow target, Chris said. Franco, now an equao partner in the company, providefd the capital to builed the Kapolei location set to opennext “Kapolei should be really good because there’ss nothing out there,” he said. “We’ve been getting lots of callse askingwhen we’re goinv to build in their area.
” The 1,200-square-foot stored is unique in that it will have wine pairings with salads and a mezzaninw level for dine-in customers, Franco said. As Aloha Salad s continues to expand, the abilithy to quickly change menu itemsz tofit customers’ tastes will be important. For roast beef sandwiches that did not sell well in the Kailua stored have been replaced withpastrami sandwiches. Periodicall introducing creative menu items also is crucia lto survival. This month, the Kahalsa Mall location beganserving “design-your-own” omelettes, organic fruit bowls and fresh-squeezed juices. The response has been and there are plans to serve breakfasrt inother locations.
“We really care about the food that goes out to Sara said. “People get used to what they’re eatingt and don’t realize there could be so manygood options.”