Dispite the heroic efforts of Haliimaile Pineapple to resurrect the industry after Maui Land and Pineapple abandoned stewardship if their lands and their responsibility for their former employees hundreds of acres of Pineapple have been plowed under in Haiku Maui.
Despite the trauma individual pineapple plants are attempting to grow. CLICK HERE for larger image.
CLICK HERE for a larger version of this image and snapshots of verdent Haiku pineapple fields before the desecration.
Haliimaile Pineapple Company (HPC) is turning out consistently super sweet Maui Gold Pineapple. I’m amazed at the quality. Small Co.=better!
Twitter / vickie kadotani: Haliimaile Pineapple Compa …
When Maui Pineapple closed it’s doors, Haliimaile Pineapple Company opened their’s, thereby saving lots of local jobs. Cudos to the Haliimaile Pineapple Company!
The company is growing the popular Maui Gold variety of pineapple and the strategy is to focus mainly on the local market, although a small portion will be exported to the mainland.
Pineapple will stay on Maui. « Dcmaui’s Blog
Prickly issue of vanishing pineapple
Growing sugarcane and pineapple is hard work, as generations of plantation and farm workers in Hawai’i can attest, but making money at it these days may be even harder. While conditions have improved in modern times for the islands’ fieldworkers, the competition from Third World countries — with different standards of living and labor laws — has also increased.
One of the latest large landowners to cry uncle is Maui Land & Pineapple, which announced Nov. 3 that its pineapple subsidiary — renowned for its "Maui Gold" brand — would cease production at the end of the year. Citing losses of $115 million since 2002, along with $20 million in expenses for a new packing facility, the announcement continued: "The painful decision to close pineapple operations at MPC 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."
The company’s last harvest took place two days before Christmas, but just before New Year’s, a group of investors came up with a plan to continue operations on about 1,000 acres — a third of the former farm — under the name Haliimaile Pineapple.
Continue reading ‘Hawaii Insider : Prickly issue of vanishing pineapple’
Exclusive Resorts announced Tuesday that AOL co-founder Steve Case has become chairman of its board of directors.Case also will lead a $20 million round of new equity financing for the luxury destination club.
Case, who has served on Exclusive Resorts’ board since investing in the company in 2003, acquired majority ownership in 2004.
Exclusive Resorts has more than 3,000 members and a real estate portfolio valued at more than $1 billion. The Denver-based club was founded in 2002.
Case grew up in Honolulu and graduated from Punahou School. He is the majority shareholder of Maui Land & Pineapple Co. (NYSE: MLP) and serves on its board of directors.
Case also owns Grove Farm, one of Kauai’s largest private landowners, and is chairman and CEO of Revolution, a market investment firm.
Case will chair Exclusive Resorts board – Pacific Business News (Honolulu):
This is a sad news post, along with a little walk down memory lane.
First of all, for those of you who don’t know, I spent many summers in Hawaii growing up, while my dad worked for a group called Youth Developmental Enterprises (YDE).
YDE would bring boys from the US mainland over to pick pineapples in Hawaii, on Lanai at first, and then on to Maui. Initially, YDE worked with Dole, but later began working with Maui Pineapple Company, now known as Maui Land & Pineapple.
My mom heard a rumor that Maui Pineapple Company was shutting down at the beginning of 2010! Just an FYI – YDE stopped working with them several years ago.
CLICK HERE for larger image
Pineapples are ripening in the former Maui Land & Pineapple Company fields but, due to layoffs, are going unharvested. The new owners, Haliimaile Pineapple Company has offered to let volunteers for Maui non-profit Waste Not Want Not pick the fruit for the Maui community. The crop will be distributed to the Maui Food Bank and other community service organizations.Volunteers are needed to pick the pineapples for 3 hours on Mondays and Thursdays. To volunteer, Call James Mylenek at 874-8038 or email him at james@wastenotwantnot.org or go to the Waste Not Want Not website and click on Volunteer tab. James will then contact you with details about dates, times and locations.
Maui Land and Pineapple went out of business, Haliimaile Pineapple Company organization has hired back 65 workers but doesn’t have enough staff to pick the ripe pineapples. Instead of plowing under, agreed to let volunteers pick the fruit.
Waste Not Want Not gathers fruits and vegetables that would otherwise go unharvested and delivers them to food banks and other places that serve meals to the hungry. You can also help them win $250,000 to get unused fruit from the backyards of Hawai’i to the needy in the ‘Pepsi Refresh Project’.
Community Pineapple Harvest—Volunteers Needed
Maui Land & Pineapple Co. has named Ryan L. Churchill president and chief operating officer of the Kahului-based company.Churchill, who has served as senior vice president of corporate development since 2007, will be responsible for day-to-day operations of ML&P (NYSE:MLP) and its operating divisions of Kapalua Land Co. Ltd., Community Development and Asset Management.
In his previous role in corporate development, he was responsible for executing the company’s strategic transactions and managing its real estate holdings and development projects.
Churchill, who joined ML&P in 2000, also has served as vice president of community development, vice president of planning for the company’s resort segment, Kapalua Land Co., and as development manager.
“Ryan has a proven leadership record on a number of key projects for the company,” ML&P Chairman and interim CEO Warren H. Haruki said in a prepared statement. “His keen management skills, his ability to work effectively with others, and his deep sense of commitment to our community make him a solid choice for this key executive position.”
Before joining ML&P, Churchill worked for KPMG LLP in Honolulu and with Fieldstone Communities, a home builder in southern California.
The Kailua native is a graduate of the University of Arizona in Tucson and holds an MBA from the University of California, Irvine.
ML&P names Churchill president and COO – Pacific Business News (Honolulu):
Form 8-K for MAUI LAND & PINEAPPLE CO INC
11-Feb-2010
Change in Directors or Principal Officers, Financial Statements and
Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Principal Officers; Election of
Directors; Appointment of Principal Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.(c) On February 8, 2010, the Board of Directors of Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. (the "Company") appointed Ryan L. Churchill (age 38) as President and Chief Operating Officer for the term of office that expires in May 2011. Mr. Churchill served as Senior Vice President/Corporate Development of the Company since March 2007, and as Vice President/Community Development from November 2005 to March 2007. He was Vice President/Planning of Kapalua Land Company, Ltd., the operating subsidiary responsible for the Company’s Community Development and Resort segments, from June 2004 to November 2005 and Development Manager from October 2000 to June 2004.
Summary of MAUI LAND & PINEAPPLE CO INC – Yahoo! Finance
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).
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
By HARRY EAGAR, Staff WriterPierre Omidyar, who invested in Maui Land & Pineapple Co. stock when the company was being pushed in a greener direction, is now supporting a for-profit/charitable combination that is taking over ML&P’s Kapalua Farms, one of the largest organic farms in the state.
Since ML&P also closed its Maui Pineapple Co. subsidiary, then leased much of its land and equipment to the upstart Haliimaile Pineapple Co. this month, the handover takes ML&P completely out of agriculture.
On Friday, Ulupono Sustainable Agriculture Development LLC, a subsidiary of the Ulupono Initiative, announced it would be assuming operations of Kapalua Farms, which not only supplies vegetables and eggs to ML&P’s Kapalua Resort but also conducts research into new methods of producing food on Maui. Ulupono Initiative is a Hawaii-focused social investment organization founded in June with backing from Omidyar and his wife, Pam. He was a founder of eBay, and they now live in Hawaii.
Warren Haruki, chairman and interim chief executive officer of ML&P, said, "We are pleased to partner with Ulupono Sustainable Agriculture Development as they assume operations of Kapalua Farms. Our desire was to find an operational partner that would be able to continue organic farming operations and to maintain Kapalua Farms as a community resource, employer and provider."
Continue reading ‘ML&P stock investor taking over Kapalua Farms’
Maui Land & Pineapple Co., On Track Innovations Ltd.Calgary, AB 1/28/2010 09:28 PM GMT (TransWorldNews)
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Double Digit Gainers Beating The Dow: MLP, OTIV
The hot stock information of the day includes: MLP, OTIV
Maui Land & Pineapple Co. (NYSE:MLP) gained 11.60% to close at $2.79 on no news. Based in Maui, Hawaii, Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in agriculture, resort, and real estate development in the US. The company operates through three segments: Agriculture, Resort, and Community Development. The Agriculture segment grows and packs, and markets pineapples under the Maui Gold and Hawaiian Gold brands. The Resort segment operates Kapalua Resort’s golf courses, a tennis facility, retail shops, and a vacation rental program, as well as provides certain services to the resort. It also engages in the mountain outpost and a guided zip-line business. The Community Development is a real estate development company.
Continue reading ‘Double Digit Gainers Beating The Dow: MLP, OTIV – sourced PicksThatMove.com’
Growing sugarcane and pineapple is hard work, as generations of plantation and farm workers in Hawai’i can attest, but making money at it these days may be even harder. While conditions have improved in modern times for the islands’ fieldworkers, the competition from Third World countries — with different standards of living and labor laws — has also increased.One of the latest large landowners to cry uncle is Maui Land & Pineapple, which announced Nov. 3 that its pineapple subsidiary — renowned for its "Maui Gold" brand — would cease production at the end of the year. Citing losses of $115 million since 2002, along with $20 million in expenses for a new packing facility, the announcement continued: "The painful decision to close pineapple operations at MPC 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."
The company’s last harvest took place two days before Christmas, but just before New Year’s, a group of investors came up with a plan to continue operations on about 1,000 acres — a third of the former farm — under the name Haliimaile Pineapple.
Continue reading ‘Hawaii Insider : Prickly issue of vanishing pineapple’
Posted on January 11, 2010 by Genevive
Five former Maui Land & Pine (MLP) employees, headed up by Ulupalakua Ranch’s Pardee Erdman, formed a new company called Haliimaile Pineapple Co, and bought the soon-to-be defunct fields owned by MLP located in central Upcountry Maui. Darren Strand is HPC’s new president and CEO.
Maui Gold pineapple, a low acid variety, to be grown and sold by Haliimaile Pineapple Co
The new company has begun to harvest fields of “Maui Gold” brand fruit, a low acid variety, around Haiku that were ripening, but going neglected. They are also replanting the fields located behind Haliimaile General Store that were targets for land sale and redevelopment into a new subdivision. According to the blog site Hawaii Agriculture the leadership of the new company “brings over 150 years of combined expertise in growing and packing premium pineapple on Maui.”
Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle issued a statement on the new company’s plans December 31, 2009. She says, “I can’t think of a better way to ring in the new year than with preservation of 65 agricultural jobs and the prospect of creating more jobs for our residents in the long-term.” Jobs are important, but so is the preservation of green space.
HPC has purchased and licensed key assets, and leased farm land, equipment and buildings from ML&P with plans to serve the Hawaii pineapple market. According to Haliimaile General Store manager Tim McGraw, if locals and visitors buy one Maui Gold pineapple a week, HPC has a real shot at becoming a viable, profitable company.
A pineapple a day keeps the subdivisions away « 3-Minute Vacation
Fifty years after statehood, most of the plantations have gone fallow or become "gentleman’s estates." There are 6,500 "farmers" in Hawai’i, but only half are full time. The average farmer is 59, with an annual income of $10,000.Ignoring the need for food security, we import at least 85 percent of our food and send billions to faraway agribusinesses when we could keep the money here to strengthen our self-sufficiency, enrich our economy and employ our jobless.
We were once a world leader in agricultural production. Now farmers have overwhelming challenges in land, water, infrastructure, pests, NIMBY, encroachment, transportation costs and burdensome bureaucracy, not to mention cheap foreign competition.
Can agriculture survive in Hawai’i?
Continue reading ‘Let’s start doing more to develop local agriculture | The Honolulu Advertiser’
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