The history of the Hawaiian pineapple dates back to the 19th century. Pineapple, one of the prominent symbols of Hawaii, was not cultivated in the islands before 1813. Although the Polynesians populated the Hawaiian Islands many centuries ago, pineapple is not an indigenous fruit. Don Francisco de Paula y Marin, a proficient Spanish advisor on the panel of King Kamehameha, introduced the fruit to Hawaiians in 1813.

The southern regions of Brazil and Paraguay are the places where pineapples were found in abundance originally. People belonging to these areas introduced the fruit all across the Central and South America and also to the countries located in Caribbean region. Christopher Columbus first found this fruit in the West Indies, one of the famous Caribbean countries. Anana is the original name of the pineapple, which means "excellent fruit" in the native Caribbean language. Many European explorers who traveled to the Caribbean and traded in the fruit referred to as the "Pine of the Indies". The fruit got its current name when it was introduced to the English-speaking nations. The word apple, the favorite fruit of Europeans, was then suffixed to "pine". However, historians of the world are not quite sure about the origins of the world "pineapple".

The fruit became instantly popular among the inhabitants of Europe and from there this delicious fruit spread across all the other parts of the world. It also became a favorite fruit of the sailors as it helped, like oranges, in preventing scurvy, a destructive disease that usually troubled the sailors on long expeditions. This medicinal property of the fruit helped considerably in its introduction to the remote regions of the world. It was during one of these long expeditions that the Hawaiians were introduced to this wonderful fruit. Pineapples were first cultivated in Hawaii on 11th January, 1813.

Although the first pineapple plantation started in 1813, the credit for the production of pineapples for commercial use goes to the John Kidwell, an English Captain. He started a large-scale commercial plantation of pineapples in Hawaii in 1885. Others soon realized the potential of growing pineapples in Hawaii and consequently, started their own pineapple plantations.

Dole Pineapple Plantation
James Dole, an American industrialist, also famously called the Pineapple King, purchased 60 acres of land in the central plains of Oahu Island and started the Hawaiian Pineapple Company (HAPCO) in 1901. In the year 1907, Dole started successful ad campaigns that introduced whole of America to canned pineapples from Hawaii. The demand for canned pineapples grew exponentially in the USA and in 1922, a revolutionary period in the history of Hawaiian pineapple, Dole bought the island of Lanai and established a vast 200,000 pineapple plantation to meet the growing demands. Lanai throughout the entire 20th century produced more than 75% of world's total pineapple produce. More land on the island of Maui was purchased by Dole.

In 1950, Dole Plantation was well-established. It was just a fruit stand in the center of the pineapple fields when started, but by 1989 it had transformed into an agricultural estate on the top of a red dirt hill and soon became a famous tourist attraction. It has a museum dedicated to the life and works of James Dole.

Today, Dole Food Company, headquartered in the USA, is a well established name in the field of growing and packaging food products such as pineapples, bananas, strawberries, grapes and many others. You can find all the varieties of pineapples from all over the world at The Dole Plantation, Oahu.

Maui Land Pineapple Company
The family of Dwight Baldwin, a missionary physician, created Maui Plantation Company. It first started at as Keahua Ranch Company in 1909. In 1932, it was renamed Maui Land Pineapple Company, which later merged with Baldwin Packers in 1962 and incorporated as Maui Plantation Company, a subsidiary associated with agricultural operations, in 1969. The company packages and processes its fresh produce at a processing unit located at Kahului, Maui.

In 2005, the company introduced its now famous "Maui Gold" variety, which is naturally sweet and has low acid content. In 2007, "Maui Gold Organic" variety was launched. The hundred year old company is now owned by Haliimaile Pineapple Co., a group of locally based investors.

Maui Pineapple Plantation tours are regularly organized for the people from around the world. The guided tours for visitors who are interested in the history of Hawaiian pineapple, and want to know all about planting and harvesting of pineapples on the island are conducted every week from Monday to Friday.

Del Monte Plantation
Del Monte another major food producing and packaging company of America started its pineapple plantation with the purchase of the Hawaiian Preservation Company in 1917. The company progressed and increased its plantation areas during 1940's.

In 1997, the company introduced its MD-2 variety, popularly known as Gold Extra Sweet pineapple, to the market. The variety, though produced in Costa Rica, was the result of extensive research done by the now dissolved Pineapple Research Institute, in Hawaii. In 2008, Del Monte stopped its pineapple plantation operations in Hawaii.

You might also be interested in these other Hawaiian history articles:
Hawaiian Islands | Birth of Hawaiian Society | Ancient Hawaiians | History of Ancient Polynesian Tattoo | Hawaiian Religion | Ancient Hawaiian Temples | Polynesian Mythology | Polynesian Tiki | Hawaiian Petroglyphs | History of Hawaiian Fishponds | History of Hawaiian Surfing | Ancient Polynesian Navigation | Hawaiian Outrigger Canoes | Ancient Hawaiian Astronomy | Colonialism in Hawaii | History of Hawaiian Volcanoes | Hawaiian Hula Dance | Traditional Hawaiian Music | Story of the Ukulele | History of Hawaiian Coffee | History of Hawaiian Sugar Cane | History of Hawaiian Noni | History of Polynesian Breadfruit

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