I used to pick up Maui Gold pineapples at Trader Joe’s every winter. The pineapple display often had the Maui Golds placed amongst the ones from Thailand or elsewhere and I’d carefully check for the Hawaii tag. I was trying to reclaim the amazing flavor of the freshly sweet pineapple I had in Maui years ago. Sadly, Maui Land & Pineapple, Inc., who retailed as Maui Gold, shut down their pineapple production at the end of 2009. Maui Land & Pineapple was the largest grower of the fruit in Hawaii. Dole Food still has some pineapple acreage in Oahu, but has most of its production elsewhere. Del Monte harvested its last Hawaii pineapple crop in 2008. However, not all is lost as Haliimaile Pineapple Co. Ltd has stepped in and purchased or leased the Maui Pineapple assets and fields, including the Maui Gold pineapple and brand. They plan to export a small percentage to mainland retailers where Maui Gold can command a premium price (I’m thinking that might not be Trader Joe’s).
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR – Mauinews.com – The Maui News
ECONOMIC DIVERSITY IS KEY TO HC&S’ SURVIVAL
It’s the last one standing, clinging to an antiquated "plantation" era, which is long gone. Current news has focused on many issues, but the most important one may be the ability of this company and its workers to diversify.
Visionary co-partners could provide capital and technology, while HC&S provides land, leases and the work force. Ideas for diversity could be some of the following:
- Eliminate the middlemen and process locally the many varieties of confectionery and food sugars utilized throughout the world.
- Eco-agricultural tourism; this is a huge, virtually untapped market for Maui visitors. Co-develop a plantation-era camp with the new Hali’imaile Pineapple owners, complete with country stores, bakery and museum. An immersion package would spotlight sugar and pineapple history, production, fields, museum and products.
- Grow bamboo to manufacture construction products, high-end flooring, furniture and cabinetry, all produced in a local factory with Maui workers.
- Develop least-productive lands into revenue-producing energy farms. Solar, wind and solar thermal energy would be harvested and space for future algae biofuels secured. Additional lands could provide light industrial tracts for local businesses to lease.
- Become a Pacific region leader in agricultural food production. Vertical farming could be accomplished in glass, multistory hydroponic greenhouses with rotating produce beds. Units would be tied into the energy farms and water produced by atmospheric water generators.
HC&S is teetering on a fiscal precipice. The question is, are they willing and able to do something about it?
Mike Cummings
Waiehu
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR – Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor’s Information – The Maui News
The Amazing Maze of US Health Care | Health Care Reform: The Next Round – On Quality
You have heard the arguments.
In the first corner: “We have the best health care system in the world. People travel to this country from all over the world to get the best health care. the parking lots in hospitals bordering Canada are full of cars with Canadian license plates.”
In the second corner: “There are 100,000 deaths per year from hospital infections and a similar number from prescription drug errors, and an equally horrific number of people who need to be re-admitted to the hospital for complications. And what about “Never Events”, those medical errors that are described as adverse events that are unambiguous (clearly identifiable and measurable), serious (resulting in death or significant disability), and usually preventable.
And there is a voice in a third corner: “We have the most expensive health care system in the world yet the United States is not ranked among the top twenty nations in infant mortality, maternal mortality, longevity, or hospital admissions avoidable with access to health care.”
It’s a bit like arguing who won the Super Bowl (this is Super Bowl weekend, after all) by comparing rushing yardage, passing yardage, first downs, time of possession. Unlike football, in health care there is no touchdown metric, no definitive “points on the board” that decides health care quality.
Which corner would you pick?
Hawaii and Related Agriculture Daily Charts for the week ending 02-05-2010
The annual charts have bee updated. CLICK HERE to view. The 360 day comparative price, line and histogram charts, page has been updated also. CLICK HERE to view.
Maui Land and Pineapple (MLP) 02-05-2010
Calavo Growers (CVGW) 02-05-2010
Alexander and Baldwin (ALEX) 02-05-2010
Monsanto (MON) 02-05-2010
Syngenta (SYT) 02-05-2010
DUPONT E I DE NEM (DD) 02-05-2010
Mānoa: Publication on reducing rat lungworm infection issued by CTAHR | University of Hawaii News
Posted: Feb. 4, 2010
A cluster of recent cases of disease in Hawai’i caused by eating fresh produce contaminated with snails or slugs infected with the nematode parasite Angiostrongylus cantonensis, the rat lungworm, has drawn attention to this foodborne threat, which can cause eosinophilic meningitis. A publication on preventive measures to reduce spread of rat lungworm infection on farms is now available from the UH Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR).
According to the publication by authors from CTAHR, the UH Pacific Biosciences Research Center, and USDA, slugs and snails become infected with rat lungworm in two ways. Most commonly, the slug or snail will eat contaminated rat feces. Less commonly, the nematode burrows into the slug or snail through the body wall or enters through a respiratory pore when the animal comes into close contact with the contaminated feces. Other vectors of infection include frogs, freshwater shrimp, and land crabs.
A&B profit modest in ‘very difficult’ 2009 – The Maui News
Agribusiness result expected to improve this year
By HARRY EAGAR, Staff Writer
POSTED: February 4, 2010
Alexander & Baldwin’s agricultural sector lost $27.8 million in 2009, primarily at Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., and the whole corporation’s profits fell to $44.2 million from the $132.4 million of 2008.
Gross revenue fell $475 million from the $1.88 billion of 2008 to $1.4 billion last year.
Net income in 2009 was $1.08 per share, the company reported Wednesday, down from $3.19 the year before.
The results from the agricultural segment had been expected. Drought pushed sugar production down to 126,800 tons, which was 28,400 tons less than the unprecedentedly low production in 2008 and 75,000 tons under what would be expected in a normal year.
The agricultural results would have been even worse, but Gay & Robinson on Kauai quit making sugar, although it plans to continue growing cane for ethanol. G&R and HC&S were the last members of a cooperative. G&R’s withdrawal terminated the membership, which resulted in a $5.4 million gain not from operations for HC&S. Without that, A&B’s agricultural losses would have been about 20 percent higher.
Last week, A&B’s board announced it would continue to operate HC&S through the end of this year, but no commitments beyond that were made.
Although Kauai Coffee, which is included in A&B’s agriculture results, enjoyed better prices and higher income in 2009, the segment’s turnover fell $17.3 million to $107 million.
Kiteboarder killed by sharks in rare deadly attack – The Washington Post
By BRIAN SKOLOFF
The Associated Press
Thursday, February 4, 2010; 11:05 AMWEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Sharks killed a kiteboarder off South Florida’s Atlantic coast in the state’s first deadly shark attack in five years, authorities said.
A lifeguard spotted Stephen Howard Schafer, 38, in distress about 500 yards off the beach Wednesday. When he paddled out, he found Schafer bleeding and surrounded by several sharks. Schafer was taken to a hospital and died a short time later, according to Rhonda Irons, public information officer for the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.
A&B Reports 2009 Net Income of $44.2 Million – Alexander & Baldwin, Inc.
HONOLULU, Feb 03, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NYSE:ALEX) today reported that net income for the full year 2009 was $44.2 million, or $1.08 per diluted share. Net income for the full year 2008 was $132.4 million, or $3.19 per diluted share. Revenue for the full year 2009 was $1,404.8 million, compared to revenue of $1,879.8 million for the full year 2008.
Net income for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $20.1 million, or $0.49 per diluted share. Net income in the fourth quarter of 2008 was $23.9 million, or $0.58 per diluted share. Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $365.0 million, compared to revenue of $395.4 million in the same period of 2008.
MLP activity 2-2-2010
