Rego's Purity Foods Co. Inc.

Scott Stevenson, president, Rego's Purity Foods Co. Inc

Ever since he was 11 years old, all Scott Stevenson wanted to do in life was run his family’s sausage company. “I never envisioned myself doing anything else,” he recalls. “This is all I ever wanted.”

Known for its line of Portuguese sausages, Rego’s Purity Foods was founded in 1957 by Stevenson’s grandfather, Al Rego, who had worked at Ulupalakua Ranch on Maui, and Rego’s brother Leonard. Stevenson’s father, Jack Stevenson, served as the general manager. By the time Scott took the reins of the company as president in 1997, however, Rego’s Purity Foods was on the brink of bankruptcy.

“My grandfather needed to upgrade his facilities, but he didn’t want to spend the money,” explains Stevenson. “So he outsourced production [to a manufacturing plant in San Jose] in 1994. Things went from bad to worse, and that’s when I got involved.”

Placing a priority on quality control, Stevenson brought half of the production work back to Oahu, where the sausage is made at a facility in Kapolei. He also mortgaged his home to fund nearly $400,000 in equipment upgrades, including the purchase of a vacuum bowl chopper which, he says, makes a sausage of superior quality.

Rego’s Purity Foods has enjoyed a 10 percent to 15 percent annual revenue growth since 1997. Future plans, Stevenson says, include extending his product line. The company currently staffs six full-time employees.

“It’s our obsession with quality that has helped to grow our business,” says Stevenson.

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