Today we’d like to introduce you to Maui Info.
Maui, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Working my way through school in the food industry, I began visualizing a business model that I felt would address the new world. Prior to this time, people who wanted to get a coffee and something sweet would generally stop by their local donut store; I felt now with people more educated and worldly, they would appreciate a place that is easily accessible to get a gourmet cup of coffee and a variety of things to eat along with it. Initially, my concept was to open up a free-standing operation in airports, and then begin to franchise them. Growing up in Toronto, CA, the Canadian banks were not risk takers, and it was quite clear my dreams were not going to become a reality there. Visiting my brother in Dallas, TX, where he had recently moved, I borrowed his car to check out the city.
After just a few days, I found a location, and a source of financing; both the landlord and the bank, were willing to lend their ear and found my story appealing. I immediately moved from Toronto to Dallas and began building our first retail location in downtown Dallas. This Although we offered a number of food items, our major products, were our gourmet muffins and cookies. Unfortunately, nine months after opening, there was a financial crisis that limited our customer base. This forced me to look at a different venue of income. I started to show our product to local hotels, and developed rapports with their executive chefs.
I tried selling them on the concept- why should you waste your time and effort making these products, when we can supply them to you and you can simply bake them off? Slowly, more and more hotels were on board, and I sold our retail location to make way for a small manufacturing plant to allow growth in this new industry. Since then, we have grown to become a national & international company, providing our gourmet frozen muffin batters and cookie dough to hotels, resorts and cruise lines throughout the US and Caribbean.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This business has been a journey, filled with ups and downs. Our core principle is to provide the very best quality products at a reasonable price with 100% top customer care. It is this core helped us push through all the hardships and learn the lessons we needed to, in order to move forward. The first major hurdle, is that I started with nothing and had to overcome financial hardships, working endless hours seven days a week. Also, trying to market our product and program to very large corporations that usually don’t make time for small, start-up companies.
Please tell us about your business.
Maui Foods manufactures gourmet frozen scoop and bake muffin batters, and cookie dough. From our beginning, our focus has been the lodging industry. We specialize in traditional, gluten free, sugar free, vegan, superfood, fat free, regional and seasonal flavors! Our product is clean and very home-made- we are an extension of our customers’ kitchens, bringing a taste of home to all visitors. We keep our ears open to listen to the new trends to always stay relevant and bring products to market in record time.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
As a drummer, playing with my band in an outdoor concert with a huge crowd!
Contact Info:
- Address: 2901 Summit Ave
Ste. #400 Plano, TX 75074 - Website: mauifoods.net
- Phone: 9722322302
- Email: afeinstein.mauifoods@gmail.com
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