Maui Pineapple Company
Encyclopedia
Maui Land & Pineapple Company
Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. is a land holding and operating company founded in 1909 and based in Maui, Hawaii, United States. It owns approximately on the island of Maui. It develops, sells, and manages residential, resort, commercial and industrial real estate; and operates retail, golf...
Inc, and was the USA’s largest grower, processor, and shipper of Hawaiian pineapples. MPC had existed for a century, based in Maui, Hawaii, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and at one time cultivated and processed approximately 2200 acres (9 km²) of pineapple
Pineapple
Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...
. The company was the last producer of Maui-grown pineapple, from 1909 to 2009.
Pineapple Varieties
Hawaiian pineapple agriculture
Maui Pineapple Company used field rotation, cover cropCover crop
Cover crops are crops planted primarily to manage soil fertility, soil quality, water, weeds, pests, diseases, biodiversity and wildlife in agroecosystems , ecological systems managed and largely shaped by humans across a range of intensities to produce food, feed, or fiber.Cover crops are of...
, and fallow time to manage sustainable agriculture. MPC fields were being evaluated for diversified crops, including taro
Taro
Taro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the family Araceae . Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and is the subject of this article. More specifically, this article describes the 'dasheen' form of taro; another variety is called eddoe.Taro is...
and other tropical crops. The company used an Integrated Pest Management
Integrated Pest Management
Integrated pest management is an ecological approach to agricultural pest control that integrates pesticides/herbicides into a management system incorporating a range of practices for economic control of a pest...
(IPM) system to reduce pesticides.
Company history
Maui Pineapple Company originated from the holdings of the family of missionary physician Dwight BaldwinDwight Baldwin (missionary)
Dwight Baldwin was an American Christian missionary and physician on Maui, one of the Hawaiian Islands, during the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was patriarch of a family that founded some of the largest businesses in the islands.-Life:...
. It began in 1909 as the Keahua Ranch Company. It became the Maui Pineapple Company in 1932. In 1962, it merged with Baldwin Packers. In 1969, Maui Land & Pineapple Company
Maui Land & Pineapple Company
Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. is a land holding and operating company founded in 1909 and based in Maui, Hawaii, United States. It owns approximately on the island of Maui. It develops, sells, and manages residential, resort, commercial and industrial real estate; and operates retail, golf...
, Inc. incorporated Maui Pineapple Company, Ltd. as its subsidiary devoted to agricultural operations. The company owned a multi-purpose processing facility in Kahului, Maui, where its fresh fruit packing and processing operations are consolidated. The facility also provided refrigerated storage, freight consolidation and warehousing to the greater Maui farming and agricultural community. Maui Pineapple Company's headquarters were located in Kahului, Maui with a satellite division, Kapalua Farms, located near Kapalua Resort
Kapalua Resort
Kapalua Resort is a golf and beach resort in Kapalua, Hawaii on the northwest shore of the island of Maui near Lahaina, Hawaii.-Description:Surrounded by from the verdant mountain ridges and summit of Puu Kukui to lava rock bays, Kapalua Resort is set amidst two nature preserves and former...
, which was also owned by its parent company.
Maui Pineapple Company was shut down at the end of 2009. A group of former investors formed the Haliimaile Pineapple Company and bought the assets of Maui Pineapple and licensed the "Maui Gold" trademark. The new company kept 65 of the old employees, and will concentrate on local markets.
The Kapalua Farms organic pineapple operation was taken over by Ulupono Sustainable Agriculture Development, backed by investor Pierre Omidyar
Pierre Omidyar
Pierre Morad Omidyar is a French-Iranian American entrepreneur and philanthropist/economist, and the founder/chairman of the eBay auction site...
in early 2010.