Fat’s Chance

Frank, Alice and Tim Law’s FAT Law Farm is a shining example of perseverance and sheer hard work

The word "fat" in Chinese translates into prosperity or good fortune. It is also the acronym for the first names of the three principals of SBA exporter regional winners FAT Law Farm Inc.--Frank, Alice and Tim Law.

It's an appropriate name for their business when you consider that neither started with any farming background nor spoke any English. Yet, FAT Law Farm is today nicknamed "The King of Basil," because it accounts for more than 60 percent of Hawaii's basil exports to the Mainland.

Their story is a classic tale of achieving the American dream through sheer perseverance and hard work, made all the more remarkable when one considers the long journey from their native Laos to the refugee camps of Thailand to being reunited in Hawaii in the 1980s, when Frank and Tim could only find work as busboys.

The Laws were born 45 to 52 years ago in Laos. The land-locked, Southeast Asian country of about 91,000 square miles is bordered by Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and the People's Republic of China. Today it has a population of about 6.2 million. In 1975, when the communist regime took control of the country, Frank was a 17-year-old student. His then 21-year-old brother, Tim, made his living wholesaling goods imported from Thailand, but the communists seized his business and the Laws fled to a refugee camp in Thailand. While in the camp, the brothers asked to come to the United States.

Says Frank "We decide American better. We wait for American to pick us up. I stay in the refugee camp from 1976. Americans, they don't pick us up until 1978."

Frank moved first to San Francisco, then to Hawaii in 1983 and was able to sponsor Tim's family (by then he had a wife, Alice, and a son) and his parents and six other siblings. Life was hard, to say the least. Both Tim and Frank worked as busboys, supporting families on minimal paychecks.

THE KING OF BASIL: FAT Law Farm is Hawaii's biggest basil exporter to the Mainland.

BETTER TO OWN YOUR OWN BUSINESS

Alice then told her husband they should figure out how to own their own business. While they had no background in farming, they decided that was something they could do. Tim says, "We decided to start farming, because we came here and couldn't talk English. I went to work as a washboy, but still no can do anything."

In 1986, they were able to lease 3 acres in Waianae, then 25 acres in Kahuku. They planted crops for the local market, cucumbers, long beans and kai choy. At the time, the family lived in low-income housing in Palolo Valley. Every morning at 5:30 a.m. they drove their truck out to Kahuku, dropped Tim's son off at Kahuku High School, then spent a backbreaking day on the farm, until well after dark.

Tim says, "Every nighttime we get home 9:30 p.m. Sometimes we no can get home, because no more money to buy the gas." The resourceful Law family would then try to sell enough cucumbers at one of the markets to get at least $5 to put gas in the truck's tank to get back home to Palolo. However, sometimes, they were forced to sleep out at the Kahuku farm.

That first year, in 1986, Alice worked at a minimum-wage job in Waikiki and made about $14,000, all of which, Tim says, went into the farm. They still ended up with a net loss that first year and the next. The third year, they broke even. This essentially hand-to-mouth existence went on for six years. Still, Tim can laugh about those difficult times, saying that, as farmers, they could at least eat what they grew. "So we all get healthy food," he says with a chuckle.

In 1992, the late Paul Kierkiewicz, of Mauna Kea Agribusiness Inc. on the Big Island, contacted the Laws and asked them to grow basil for his export business. It opened the Laws' eyes to a huge new market. Although Mauna Kea Agribusiness eventually went bankrupt, the Laws had found a way to greatly expand their very small business, whose annual sales had averaged about $16,000 for the past couple of years.

(Left to right): Field workers pick basil at FAT Law Farm in Ewa Beach; Long beans are also grown for the local market; Basil is packed at the farm and flown fresh to the Mainland.

Although it meant another huge annual loss in sales, in 1996, the Laws moved their operation to 65 acres of Campbell Estate land in Ewa, which they subleased from Aloun Farms. They were eventually able to get 35 more acres there.

During this time of rapid growth, the Laws were helped by local businesses that cut them some slack with repayments. They mention Pacific Agriculture a company that supplied them with needed fertilizer and did not collect payment for almost a year. Their farming operation was many times bigger, but it was still a struggle to turn a profit.

MANY HANDS

In 2002, FAT Law Farm Inc., the corporation, was formed. Tim became president, Frank vice president and Alice bookkeeper. FAT Law became a client of Thong Songvilay, the Chinatown branch manager for American Savings Bank, whom Tim had known for about 20 years. Songvilay and Tim are also directors of the Hawaii Lao Buddhist Foundation, a nonprofit that they helped to form to preserve and perpetuate the Laotian culture.

Things started to click. The new company's focus was not just on farming, but mostly on marketing and exporting produce. According to Songvilay, Tim learned the hard way how to export and find the right customers. Songvilay says FAT Law Farm's first three attempts to export were a bust, as buyers took the Laws' produce, then did not pay them. Tim says Songvilay taught him to check out potential buyers and their credit worthiness. The University of Hawaii's agricultural extension program and the USDA helped the Laws to extend the shelf life of their crops by planting from stems rather than seeds.

Tim, Alice and Frank Law are award-winning exporters

In addition, the Laws drew upon their now extensive network of family members and Laotian friends. Songvilay says Tim Law relies on other farmers to help him, makes their crops meet his quality standards and advises them on how to produce them.

In 2002, FAT Law Farms grossed almost $2 million. By 2005, gross sales had jumped to $3.1 million and the brothers were projecting a 15 percent increase for 2006. In 2003, the total value of basil produced in Hawaii was $4.9 million, according to the Hawaii Agriculture Statistics Service. FAT Law Farms' revenues for 2003 were $2.36 million, which gives one an idea of the scale of the company's operation on a statewide basis. The company's success and the Laws' story inspired Songvilay to nominate the company for an SBA award. FAT Law Farms is both the state and regional winner for exporting this year.

Songvilay says, "Personally, I saw them grow as immigrants, so they inspired me, too. Seeing this couple and these brothers that came with nothing and spoke no English and turned out to be very successful businessmen--they really inspired me, so that's why I nominated them."

IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED

There are several things to be learned from the Law story. The first is to treat your customers well. This was exemplified during the recent storms and floods.

"Tim is very customer oriented. He caters to the customer," says Songvilay. "Right now is a good example. The weather is so bad, a lot of basil is being ruined. Tim did not raise the price. Production is down, but he assured all his customers they would get their share of the produce and he assure they would get it at the regular price."

The second lesson is to give, generously. The Laws spend 20 percent of their time supporting other small farmers, many of them Laotian, who want to export with them or by themselves. They are also very involved with three Hawaii organizations: the Hawaii Teo Chew Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Chinese-Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and the Hawaii Teo Chew Association. They also helped to start the Laos Buddhist Foundation of Hawaii, which has plans to build a Buddhist temple in Kahuku. Songvilay says: "They are involved in the Laotian community and in Chinatown and they are very generous." This has helped them to develop a growing network of suppliers to meet the growing demand for their basil and other herbs.

The third, and perhaps most important lesson is to work hard and never give up. While their business is showing a definite upside these days, the brothers still work long hours, often rising before dawn and leaving the farm late at night. Some of this is easier, since they both now live minutes away from the main farming operation in Ewa Beach. However, as Songvilay observes, "Tim has been persistent. He never gave up, even though he had hard times. He kept on persisting, kept on working. And he never says no to the community, either."

A ROOM WITH A VIEW: Tim, Alice and Frank Law can observe their fields from FAT Law Farm's second floor office.

GOING INTERNATIONAL

Tim connections with the Teo Chew Chamber of Commerce may have led to his greatest opportunity yet. Some of his Teo Chew associates had been traveling to China and noticed how similar the climate of Hainan Island, near Hong Kong, was to Hawaii's. Tim checked it out for himself.

Tim says, "I go check weather and everything is like Hawaii, then I think I can get papaya out and send to China, Hong Kong and Japan." It made perfect sense to him, since papaya in Hawaii sells for about 30 cents a pound. Yet it can fetch up to $1.20 a pound in China. "In China, the market is big, about 13 billion there. In Honolulu, we have a lot of papaya coming out we no can sell, but in China, we can sell all," says Tim.

As part of a hui, he recently leased 150 acres of former rice paddy land in Hainan and plans to grow papaya and other fruits and vegetables for sale in China, Hong Kong and Japan. But the international expansion plans don't stop there. Tim has got his sights set on Laos, which has become more liberal over the 30 years since he left. He says he is looking to acquire land there and would like to start farming ginger in Laos in three to four years.

It seems FAT Law Farm's biggest challenges lie ahead in Hawaii. Tim's two sons and Frank's son are all at different universities, studying for professions other than farming. FAT Law's lease has been extended until 2013, but is still year-to-year. However, given the Laws' local connections and work ethic, there is a plan.

At the time of this writing, they wanted to form a partnership of local farmers, many of them relatives, to purchase a parcel of land owned by the Campbell Estate in Kunia, with a price tag of $11.2 milion. Tim and Frank Law dream of opening what they are calling Kunia Ag Park in six years. They just have to get the critical mass together to come up with the 25 percent down payment.

Given what they have proven through FAT Law Farm thus far, it would be foolish to bet against them. As their banker Songvilay says: "I can't find any better success story than this."

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