The Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation is the world's largest processor of macadamia nuts. The American company has been a subsidiary of The Hershey Company since 2004. The company takes its name from the volcano Mauna Loa. Their headquarters and main nut processing plant are near the mountain, south of Hilo in the Puna District of the island of Hawaiʻi, known as the Big Island.
With it corporate headquarters located in Irvine, California, and its processing facility in Hilo, Hawaii, Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation is the largest processor and marketer of macadamia nut products in the world. The private company, named after the largest active volcano in the world, markets nuts from 10,000 acres of orchards planted on the Big Island of Hawaii on the slopes of Mauna Loa volcano. Macadamia trees are highly fragile, their shallow roots putting them at risk to high winds. To provide a windbreak, pines trees usually ring the macadamia trees. They are also bred to be suitable to all micro-climates of the Big Island, offering something of a hedge if overly wet or dry conditions prevail during the course of a year. Because macadamia seedlings are so genetically unstable, commercial nut-bearing trees are created by grafting onto rootstock in a nursery, where they are kept for two years. The trees are then transferred to an orchard, but a dozen years will pass before they are producing at commercial levels. Mature nuts fall off the trees naturally and are harvested five times a season, which lasts from mid-August to March. In contrast to the trees, the macadamia nut is the hardest nut in the world, requiring 300 pounds per square inch of pressure to crack the shell. Further, the nut requires an extensive drying, separation, and dry roasting process, which leads in large part to the product's high price. In addition to selling salted and unsalted dry roast macadamias and honey-roasted macadamias, Mauna Loa also offer a number of confections relying on macadamias, including a variety of chocolate covered macadamias, candy-coated macadamias, nut and fruit mixes, macadamia candy bars, and macadamia cookies.
Macadamia Tree Named in 1857
The macadamia tree was not native to Hawaii. Rather, it originated in Australia, and in 1857 was named after Dr. John Macadam, a chemistry professor at the University of Melbourne and a member of Australia's Parliament who apparently had nothing to do with the plants. His friends, Baron Ferdinand von Muller, head of Melbourne's Botanic Gardens, along with Walter Hill, the superintendent of Brisbane's Botanic Gardens, were the first to classify the tree botanically, having discovered it on an expedition. The honor of providing a name fell upon von Muller, who elected to pay tribute to his friend Macadam. Hill removed the kernels from the shells in order to plant and cultivate the trees. He believed the nuts were likely poisonous, according to some aborigines at least, and was shocked to discover a young assistant happily snacking on some. When the boy seemed to suffer no ill effects, Hill tried the kernels, found them delicious, and became an enthusiast.
The man responsible for introducing the macadamia tree to Hawaii was William H. Purvis, who was a manager of a sugar plantation on the Big Island. While visiting Australia, he was so taken by the beauty of the macadamia tree that he brought back seeds to Hawaii and in 1881 planted them to adorn his house, uninterested in their nuts. Brothers E.W. and R.A. Jordan in 1892 were also successful in planting seeds at their home in Nu-Uanu. Macadamia trees thrived in the Hawaiian climate, but for the next thirty years they were valued mostly for their appearance, although residents of Hawaii had in the meantime learned to appreciate the flavorful macadamia nut. It was Massachusetts-born Ernest Van Tassel who commercialized the macadamia nut, having first tasted it at a cocktail party in 1916 after coming to Hawaii for his failing health. Because his health improved, he looked for a way to show his gratitude, and he decided to plant a macadamia orchard for the purpose of sharing the delicacy with other people and perhaps establishing a new industry on the islands. With seeds from the Purvis and Jordan trees, he leased 25 acres of government land near Honolulu to plant them, and in 1922 he created Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Co., Ltd.
Van Tassel was not experienced in agriculture, and his initial efforts at commercializing macadamia nut production proved unsuccessful because seedlings from the same tree produced nuts that differed wildly in terms of quality and yield. With the help of the University of Hawaii, a method of grafting was developed and over the course of 20 years nine strains of the macadamia were developed that were able to produce a consistently high quality nut. In the meantime, Van Tassel was able to begin commercial processing of macadamia nuts on a limited basis in 1934 under the brand name Van's Macadamia Nuts. Also in the 1930s, Ellen Dye Candies and the Alexander Young Hotel candy shop began to sell chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, and by the end of the decade Hawaiian Candies & Nuts Ltd. was marketing macadamias under the Menehune Mac label.
The consortium of corporations known as the "Big Five," which had dominated the Hawaiian economy for more than 100 years, took note of the macadamia nut's emergence and began to become involved. Castle & Cooke, best known as the owners of the Dole Pineapple Co., planted the orchard that would form the foundation of Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp. in 1946 on the Big Island near Kea'au. In 1948, Castle & Cooke organized the Royal Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Company, but it was not until 1954 that trees began to bear fruit, and another two years would pass before the first commercial crop was available. Full production would not be achieved on the company's holdings until 1965, at which point a state-of-the-art processing plant was built near Hilo. The plant was ahead of its time in that it was designed to supply its own power by burning macadamia shells.
The first Mauna Loa macadamia nut plantation was planted in 1946, and the first commercial crop was harvested in 1956.
The visitors center is a tourist attraction with its self-guided tour of the processing plant (viewed from the outside on a second-floor walkway due to safety and sanitation concerns) and large gift shop with homemade macadamia nut ice cream for sale and free samples of every flavor variation sold by the company. It is located at the address One Macadamia Road, near the town of Keaʻau at 19°39′24″N 155°0′33″WCoordinates: 19°39′24″N 155°0′33″W.
The company promotes sustainable green causes, and is slowly working to become totally carbon neutral by reducing its dependence on conventionally generated electricity - particularly those involving coal and crude oil. At the main production facility, the company owns its own steam generator, which uses plant waste to generate electricity used in the harvesting and packaging of its macadamia nuts.
In the 1990s, Mauna Loa was far from aggressive in growing the business. The company increased its output of macadamia nuts and allowed the market for the product to essentially grow at its own pace. The company overcame some problems, such as a lawsuit from mainland buyers who charged that Mauna Loa and Mac Farm International Inc. conspired to fix the price of mac- adamia nuts. Another concern was a tree disease, Macadamia Quick Decline (MQD), which cost Mauna Loa some 25,000 trees over the course of a five-year period. A more positive development was the signing of a distribution agreement with the Planters Division of Nabisco Foods Group for the sale of Mauna Loa nuts on the U.S. mainland. In 1994, that relationship was severed when Mauna Loa formed a mainland marketing and sales division, headed by Scott C. Wallace. In 1998, Wallace was named president and chief operating officer for the company, working out of Irvine, California, a move that began the transition of the corporate office from Hawaii to Irvine.
In September 2000, Mauna Loa changed ownership as part of a restructuring of C. Brewer, which Buyers now wanted to reposition as an agricultural services company in alliance with the local biotechnology industry. Mauna Loa was sold to the Shansby Group, a San Francisco private equity group founded in 1987 by J. Gary Shansby, a former CEO who was responsible for growing Shaklee Corporation from a small family business to a Fortune 500 company. Along with partner Charles H. Esserman, Shansby invested in a number of brand consumer products, including The Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie Co., Terra Chips, and La Victoria Foods.
Under the Shansby Group, Mauna Loa made a number of changes. Scott Wallace was named CEO and the headquarters relocated to Irvine. Mauna Loa resumed advertising on the mainland, which led to a major increase in sales. The company also expanded its product offerings, so that in spite of a significant macadamia nut shortage in the early 2000s, Mauna Loa enjoyed an annual growth rate in the 40 percent range. To make up for the lack of nuts, the company became adept at quickly launching products that did not rely on the entire kernel, such as trail mixes, cookies, caramel corn, toffee, and brittle. After decades in business, Mauna Loa was finally coming of age in its marketing approach. It now leveraged the strength of the Mauna Loa brand name, which management believed connoted more than just macadamia nuts and could be associated in the consumer mind with anything tropical. Not only would the company continue to expand its slate of confectionary products, it might acquire other food business in order to create a premium products company centered on the Mauna Loa name.
Principal Competitors: Hawaiian Host Inc; Mac Farms of Hawaii Inc.; Kraft Foods Inc.
Statistics:
Private Company
Incorporated: 1976
Employees: 295
Sales: $15.4 million (2003)
NAIC: 311911 Roasted Nuts and Peanut Butter Manufacturing
Key Dates:
1881: The first macadamia tree in Hawaii is planted.
1922: The first macadamia nut company is launched.
1946: Mauna Loa's orchards are planted by Castle & Cooke.
1973: C. Brewer buys Castle & Cooke's macadamia nut operations.
1976: The Mauna Loa Nut label is created.
1986: Buyco, Inc. acquires C. Brewer.
2000: The Shansby Group acquires Mauna Loa.
Address:
2445 McCabe Way, Suite 250
Irvine, California 92614-4293
U.S.A.
With it corporate headquarters located in Irvine, California, and its processing facility in Hilo, Hawaii, Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation is the largest processor and marketer of macadamia nut products in the world. The private company, named after the largest active volcano in the world, markets nuts from 10,000 acres of orchards planted on the Big Island of Hawaii on the slopes of Mauna Loa volcano. Macadamia trees are highly fragile, their shallow roots putting them at risk to high winds. To provide a windbreak, pines trees usually ring the macadamia trees. They are also bred to be suitable to all micro-climates of the Big Island, offering something of a hedge if overly wet or dry conditions prevail during the course of a year. Because macadamia seedlings are so genetically unstable, commercial nut-bearing trees are created by grafting onto rootstock in a nursery, where they are kept for two years. The trees are then transferred to an orchard, but a dozen years will pass before they are producing at commercial levels. Mature nuts fall off the trees naturally and are harvested five times a season, which lasts from mid-August to March. In contrast to the trees, the macadamia nut is the hardest nut in the world, requiring 300 pounds per square inch of pressure to crack the shell. Further, the nut requires an extensive drying, separation, and dry roasting process, which leads in large part to the product's high price. In addition to selling salted and unsalted dry roast macadamias and honey-roasted macadamias, Mauna Loa also offer a number of confections relying on macadamias, including a variety of chocolate covered macadamias, candy-coated macadamias, nut and fruit mixes, macadamia candy bars, and macadamia cookies.
Macadamia Tree Named in 1857
The macadamia tree was not native to Hawaii. Rather, it originated in Australia, and in 1857 was named after Dr. John Macadam, a chemistry professor at the University of Melbourne and a member of Australia's Parliament who apparently had nothing to do with the plants. His friends, Baron Ferdinand von Muller, head of Melbourne's Botanic Gardens, along with Walter Hill, the superintendent of Brisbane's Botanic Gardens, were the first to classify the tree botanically, having discovered it on an expedition. The honor of providing a name fell upon von Muller, who elected to pay tribute to his friend Macadam. Hill removed the kernels from the shells in order to plant and cultivate the trees. He believed the nuts were likely poisonous, according to some aborigines at least, and was shocked to discover a young assistant happily snacking on some. When the boy seemed to suffer no ill effects, Hill tried the kernels, found them delicious, and became an enthusiast.
The man responsible for introducing the macadamia tree to Hawaii was William H. Purvis, who was a manager of a sugar plantation on the Big Island. While visiting Australia, he was so taken by the beauty of the macadamia tree that he brought back seeds to Hawaii and in 1881 planted them to adorn his house, uninterested in their nuts. Brothers E.W. and R.A. Jordan in 1892 were also successful in planting seeds at their home in Nu-Uanu. Macadamia trees thrived in the Hawaiian climate, but for the next thirty years they were valued mostly for their appearance, although residents of Hawaii had in the meantime learned to appreciate the flavorful macadamia nut. It was Massachusetts-born Ernest Van Tassel who commercialized the macadamia nut, having first tasted it at a cocktail party in 1916 after coming to Hawaii for his failing health. Because his health improved, he looked for a way to show his gratitude, and he decided to plant a macadamia orchard for the purpose of sharing the delicacy with other people and perhaps establishing a new industry on the islands. With seeds from the Purvis and Jordan trees, he leased 25 acres of government land near Honolulu to plant them, and in 1922 he created Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Co., Ltd.
Van Tassel was not experienced in agriculture, and his initial efforts at commercializing macadamia nut production proved unsuccessful because seedlings from the same tree produced nuts that differed wildly in terms of quality and yield. With the help of the University of Hawaii, a method of grafting was developed and over the course of 20 years nine strains of the macadamia were developed that were able to produce a consistently high quality nut. In the meantime, Van Tassel was able to begin commercial processing of macadamia nuts on a limited basis in 1934 under the brand name Van's Macadamia Nuts. Also in the 1930s, Ellen Dye Candies and the Alexander Young Hotel candy shop began to sell chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, and by the end of the decade Hawaiian Candies & Nuts Ltd. was marketing macadamias under the Menehune Mac label.
The consortium of corporations known as the "Big Five," which had dominated the Hawaiian economy for more than 100 years, took note of the macadamia nut's emergence and began to become involved. Castle & Cooke, best known as the owners of the Dole Pineapple Co., planted the orchard that would form the foundation of Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp. in 1946 on the Big Island near Kea'au. In 1948, Castle & Cooke organized the Royal Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Company, but it was not until 1954 that trees began to bear fruit, and another two years would pass before the first commercial crop was available. Full production would not be achieved on the company's holdings until 1965, at which point a state-of-the-art processing plant was built near Hilo. The plant was ahead of its time in that it was designed to supply its own power by burning macadamia shells.
The first Mauna Loa macadamia nut plantation was planted in 1946, and the first commercial crop was harvested in 1956.
The visitors center is a tourist attraction with its self-guided tour of the processing plant (viewed from the outside on a second-floor walkway due to safety and sanitation concerns) and large gift shop with homemade macadamia nut ice cream for sale and free samples of every flavor variation sold by the company. It is located at the address One Macadamia Road, near the town of Keaʻau at 19°39′24″N 155°0′33″WCoordinates: 19°39′24″N 155°0′33″W.
The company promotes sustainable green causes, and is slowly working to become totally carbon neutral by reducing its dependence on conventionally generated electricity - particularly those involving coal and crude oil. At the main production facility, the company owns its own steam generator, which uses plant waste to generate electricity used in the harvesting and packaging of its macadamia nuts.
In the 1990s, Mauna Loa was far from aggressive in growing the business. The company increased its output of macadamia nuts and allowed the market for the product to essentially grow at its own pace. The company overcame some problems, such as a lawsuit from mainland buyers who charged that Mauna Loa and Mac Farm International Inc. conspired to fix the price of mac- adamia nuts. Another concern was a tree disease, Macadamia Quick Decline (MQD), which cost Mauna Loa some 25,000 trees over the course of a five-year period. A more positive development was the signing of a distribution agreement with the Planters Division of Nabisco Foods Group for the sale of Mauna Loa nuts on the U.S. mainland. In 1994, that relationship was severed when Mauna Loa formed a mainland marketing and sales division, headed by Scott C. Wallace. In 1998, Wallace was named president and chief operating officer for the company, working out of Irvine, California, a move that began the transition of the corporate office from Hawaii to Irvine.
In September 2000, Mauna Loa changed ownership as part of a restructuring of C. Brewer, which Buyers now wanted to reposition as an agricultural services company in alliance with the local biotechnology industry. Mauna Loa was sold to the Shansby Group, a San Francisco private equity group founded in 1987 by J. Gary Shansby, a former CEO who was responsible for growing Shaklee Corporation from a small family business to a Fortune 500 company. Along with partner Charles H. Esserman, Shansby invested in a number of brand consumer products, including The Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie Co., Terra Chips, and La Victoria Foods.
Under the Shansby Group, Mauna Loa made a number of changes. Scott Wallace was named CEO and the headquarters relocated to Irvine. Mauna Loa resumed advertising on the mainland, which led to a major increase in sales. The company also expanded its product offerings, so that in spite of a significant macadamia nut shortage in the early 2000s, Mauna Loa enjoyed an annual growth rate in the 40 percent range. To make up for the lack of nuts, the company became adept at quickly launching products that did not rely on the entire kernel, such as trail mixes, cookies, caramel corn, toffee, and brittle. After decades in business, Mauna Loa was finally coming of age in its marketing approach. It now leveraged the strength of the Mauna Loa brand name, which management believed connoted more than just macadamia nuts and could be associated in the consumer mind with anything tropical. Not only would the company continue to expand its slate of confectionary products, it might acquire other food business in order to create a premium products company centered on the Mauna Loa name.
Principal Competitors: Hawaiian Host Inc; Mac Farms of Hawaii Inc.; Kraft Foods Inc.
Statistics:
Private Company
Incorporated: 1976
Employees: 295
Sales: $15.4 million (2003)
NAIC: 311911 Roasted Nuts and Peanut Butter Manufacturing
Key Dates:
1881: The first macadamia tree in Hawaii is planted.
1922: The first macadamia nut company is launched.
1946: Mauna Loa's orchards are planted by Castle & Cooke.
1973: C. Brewer buys Castle & Cooke's macadamia nut operations.
1976: The Mauna Loa Nut label is created.
1986: Buyco, Inc. acquires C. Brewer.
2000: The Shansby Group acquires Mauna Loa.
Address:
2445 McCabe Way, Suite 250
Irvine, California 92614-4293
U.S.A.