Love’s: Still Flying High
An Island tradition since 1851, Love’s Bakery continues to make and deliver Hawaii’s freshest breads. Watching companies deal with the economic downturn is like watching the reality TV show Survivor. Facing challenges at every turn, one wonders what strategies will be employed to outwit, out-play and outlast destructive forces, and who will be voted out at the shareholder “tribal council.” It’s a game of adaptation. Some businesses are fleet-footed and make it. Others, for various reasons, don’t meet the endurance test: The Big Five, Liberty House, Aloha Airlines, Hawaii Superferry
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Del.icio.us“fresh” bread to the consumers, there’s a turnover of Love’s loaves in stores every four days.
“Clearly there’s a difference in taste and quality,” Walters says. “Air is an enemy to fresh bread. The sooner you can get it into the market and into the hands of consumers, the better. Any bread stored in a freezer or flash-frozen takes moisture out of the product.”
Chong says consumer preferences currently lean strongly toward health, convenience and indulgence. To accommodate these trends, bakers must constantly innovate, stretch perceptions and provide customer-oriented offerings.
Walters, 58, an ex-Marine with more than 30 years’ experience in the industry, recalls Love’s development of a highly recognized Mainland brand, only to lose it years later. The loss represented 20 percent of the company’s sales.
Within 90 days, Walters and Chong devoted most of their waking hours to replacing the varieties. The result was Hawaii’s Hearth and Love’s KIDS bread.
“It’s unheard of to create a new brand of six varieties in 90 days to replace a brand that had been developed over the course of 25 years,” Walters says.
Chong, 38, a University of Hawaii graduate in psychology, adds, “Actually it took less than 90 days, and what compounded our plight was that this took place over Christmas, when many service providers were closed for the holidays. If we had not gotten it on the shelves, we would have lost the space.
“It was a huge accomplishment,” he asserts. “But local consumers accepted it. They knew us from Love’s. They knew what they were getting.”
“More importantly,” Walters adds, “we controlled our own destiny because the new products are under the Love’s name. So no one can take it away from us. Under that label, we can create new varieties, do new initiatives and be proactive in enhancing Love’s.”
It’s obvious that the two men know on which side their bread is buttered. Both thrive on the dynamic, ever-changing nature of the business that puts their management skills to test every day.
“A key component of our revitalization is the support of our 350 employees,” Walter says. “They rallied around the new management, understand the challenges and are confident of overcoming obstacles. Without their support and cooperation, we couldn’t have turned this place around.
“Now it’s time to implement a continuity plan,” he adds. “Good managers must train, develop and mentor people who can assume greater responsibility. I’ve got probably three or four years left before I return to the Mainland. Byron is the heir-apparent. He’s the face of the future at Love’s Bakery.”
That’s a lot of pressure on Chong, a Hawaii Baptist graduate whose sales and marketing background includes R.J. Reynolds in Las Vegas. But under Walter’s mentorship, he has become an astute commercial baker and can recite the statewide distribution routes in this sleep.
He’s also a formidable competitor on the golf links with a 10 handicap, the envy of his boss at 16.
When the going gets rough, in the baking business or on the golf course, they heed a sign in Love’s executive office that reads, “Winners never quit. Quitters never win.”
And the bakers at Love’s never stop.
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