Pineapple all pau on Valley isle – Starbulletin

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By Dave Segal

Hawaii’s once-rich agricultural industry, renowned throughout the 1900s for its pineapple and sugar crops, has suffered another devastating blow.

With the last remaining sugar company hanging on by a thread, Maui Land & Pineapple Co. said yesterday it would stop planting pineapple immediately, cease all pineapple operations by the end of the year, and lay off more than 45 percent of its work force amid a companywide restructuring that repositions subsidiary Kapalua Land Co.

Political Response Pours in as Plug is Pulled on Pineapple « PRG NEWS WITH WENDY OSHER

 

Many on Maui are calling it the end of an era as Maui Land and Pineapple Company pulls the plug on pineapple production.  An estimated 285 lay offs are planned by the end of the year in a move that was announced to workers Tuesday morning.

After losing $115 million in agriculture over the past seven years, company officials said market conditions have not improved and pineapple operations were no longer financially sustainable.  The company plans to focus its efforts on the success of its Kapalua Resort while trying to accommodate up to 133 employees at partner companies.

The following are statements released by various political figures in the wake of the recent announcement.

Maui Land & Pineapple Co. to cease pineapple operations – The Maui News

    A Black Day for Agriculture in Hawaii

The last Crop of Pineapple in Haiku
The last Crop of Pineapple in Haiku
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Up to 285 jobs will be lost

Maui Land & Pineapple Co. announced today that it will cease pineapple operations by the end of the year and restructure its resort and land development division.

Up to 285 employees will be laid off. This comes after 274 employees were laid off in July of 2008 and 100 more jobs were cut earlier this year.

The current work force numbers 624, and the company hopes to offer up to 133 employees positions at partner companies.

In a statement, ML&P Chairman and interim CEO Warren Haruki said:

"The painful decision to close pineapple operations at MPC (Maui Pineapple Co.) after 97 years was incredibly difficult to make, but absolutely necessary. We realize this ends a significant chapter in Maui’s history — an important part of many lives, over many generations."

Haruki said that Maui Pineapple Co. had lost $115 million in agriculture since 2002 while investing $20 million in capital expenditures for a new fresh-fruit packing facility.

"Realizing that these losses could no longer continue, we spent the last year exploring options to keep pineapple operations going on Maui," he said. "Despite our efforts, it became clear that there were no other financially viable options."

Changes were also announced in the resort operations for Kapalua Land Co., which until now had managed most phases of the Kapalua Resort.

According to the statement issued today, the company will "partner with ‘best in class’ operators in their respective fields who can manage select assets of the resort more effectively."

The arrangements to be concluded on or before Dec. 31 include:

— Appointing a management company to manage the 206-unit Kapalua Villas.

— Leasing the equipment and to license operations of Kapalua Adventures to a "well-respected zipline activity company."

— Choosing an operator to provide resort shuttle and security services.

— Finding a new operator of Kapalua Farms.

Last week, Maui Land & Pineapple Co. reported a $25.5 million loss for the third quarter of 2009, bringing the company’s losses for the first nine months of 2009 to $92.9 million — larger than the $76.1 million loss the company recorded for the entire year in 2008.

Maui Land & Pineapple Co. to cease pineapple operations – Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor’s Information – The Maui News

Survey: Maui farming in favor – The Maui News

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POSTED: November 1, 2009

If not farming, what?<br /> Click for Larger Image
If not farming, what?
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A survey distributed by the Maui County Farm Bureau at the recent Maui County Fair reveals that almost all Mauians think farming is important. And half believe it will expand, although the recent trend goes the other way.

But on two important issues that are controlled by state government, opinion was divided: keeping up inspections of imported goods to intercept agricultural pests and allocating stream water.

"It’s very clear that the people of Maui value and want agriculture here, but we don’t exist in a vacuum," said Warren Watanabe, executive director of the Maui County Farm Bureau.

About 800 survey forms were completed, and 95 percent of respondents said that agriculture is very important or extremely important, although one-third also think it will decline under present conditions.