CAPTAIN COOK — Kona Chips has become a familiar name in West Hawaii, and a staple for many local snack aficionados for the past 25 years.
CAPTAIN COOK — Kona Chips has become a familiar name in West Hawaii, and a staple for many local snack aficionados for the past 25 years.
Owner and president Jerome Furukawa was living in Honolulu and making frequent Kona trips to visit his wife, Cindee’s family, proprietors of Manago Hotel in Captain Cook. The couple decided Kona was the place to raise their daughter.
“In 1991, I heard Mr. Deguchi, owner of Kitch’n Cook’d potato chips, was ready to retire and sell his business. He was hand making the kettle chips out of a shack in his backyard in Kealakekua,” said Furukawa.
Furukawa bought the business and moved the equipment to a building just north of Manago Hotel, gleaning knowledge from Deguchi.
The following year Furukawa’s brother Damon joined him, followed by their parents. The handmade Kitch’n Cook’d chips was truly a family business.
The family continued to make the chips by hand in the same kettle Deguchi used for 10 years. Demand for the locally manufactured treat grew and Furukawa knew that it was time to expand. That meant automating the process and moving to a larger location.
In 2001, Furukawa moved the company to the south end of the hotel, installed new automated equipment and changed the name to Kona Chips. Contracts with Aloha Airlines and resorts on the Kohala Coast were in place and production was ready to resume. Three days later, Sept. 11, brought the tourism industry to a grinding halt.
Furukawa lost the contracts and was left with a brand new facility, equipment and the bills that came with it.
“We were cooking less with automation after 9/11,” Furukawa remembers. “Cindee and I sat down to decide if we should just close or stick it out. We believed in our product so we took out another mortgage and stuck it out.”
Sticking it out meant having to diversify. Long nights were spent trying to come up with a new product. Many ideas were tested but none made the cut. Then their daughter Chelsee, who put furukaki on just about everything, had them try it on their chips. Furukaki Kona Chips were born, took off like wildfire, and saved the family business. The local delicacy is now their top selling product and Hawaiian Airlines offers them on their flights.
Kona Chips continued to grow and expand its line. The next creation they introduced was “Ugly Cookies,” a chocolate chip cookie with Kona Chips bits. That product landed them a contract with Costco.
“Our retail store has turned into a snack shop with 127 products,” said Kona Chips General Manager Damon Furukawa.
The store, located adjacent to the chip factory, brings in premium furukaki and dried seafood from Japan, as well as other snack products made locally.
The Furukawa family continue to deliver their products to stores throughout West Hawaii and have no plans to expand their territory.
“The real reason for our success is our customers,” said Jerome. “95 percent of our business is local, including online orders. “We remain successful because we are always trying to reinvent ourselves, come up with fresh ideas. And that’s the fun part of the job.”
Jerome related that many nights are spent with friends and family in his driveway testing new ideas.
“You just never know,” Jerome commented, “if one idea out of a hundred is successful it’s worth it”