It shouldn't surprise anyone that a company, created more than 50 years ago in Hilo, Hawaii, continues to embrace its island heritage and the core mission of its founder, Robert Taira. King's Hawaiian, still a family-owned business, is managed with the same vision, dedication and forward thinking Robert Taira valued.

“In founding this company in Hawaii, my father's vision was to bring the spirit of aloha into every facet of our business-from the bread we produce to the legacy we leave behind,” says Mark Taira, C.E.O. and president, King's Hawaiian Holding Co., Torrance, Calif.

Today, King's Hawaiian Holding Co. includes a 151,000-sq.-ft. wholesale bakery and an older, 30,000-sq.-ft. facility-both part of King's Hawaiian Bakery West Inc.; and two retail restaurant/bakery units. The smaller building was the company's original mainland bakery. A 12,000-sq.-ft. commissary, located within the larger building, supplies the company's restaurants with a wide variety of baked products, while serving as a pilot plant and product development site.

Hawaiian sweet bread finds a niche

Robert Taira started the business in 1950 in Hawaii in a rented space in a small building. He had one display case of product. Five years later, Robert built the first building in Hawaii designed as a stand-alone bakery. The building, which was about 5,000 sq. ft., was the first to have a refrigerated display case, Mark Taira notes.

Robert Taira was a visionary, notes Shelby Weeda, president of King's Hawaiian's Bakery West Inc., who has been employed with the company for 28 years. Robert's use of refrigeration in his display case demonstrates that, he adds.

In 1960, Robert sold the business because he knew that in the state of Hawaii, industry was changing from agriculture, mainly pineapple, to tourism. He wanted to go to Honolulu, where most of the hotels were, and get involved in the tourist industry.

“My father's venture in tourism didn't work out, so in '63, he opened another bakery on King St., which is how the name of King's Hawaiian sweet bread originated,” Taira says. “Because he had all the family working there, my grandmother had to work everyday and cook for the family-breakfast, lunch and dinner-which was a lot of work. So, he built a counter with 13 stools and hired a cook to cook primarily for the family. But, since the cook was there, he figured he might as well serve some customers. That blend of a coffee shop and bakery, back then it was called a coffee shop, was a great combination. We expanded from 13 stools to about 130 seats. That concept of retail bakery and coffee shop was extremely successful. Nobody was doing it back then.”

Robert developed his bakery's distinctive Hawaiian sweet bread based on Portuguese sweet bread, which was introduced by Portuguese sailors who came to Hawaii to trade. The bread became hard and crusty after only one day, and had a shelf life as long as a month. Robert's goal was to give his bread a light, soft, airy, cake-like texture with a shelf life of at least two weeks. “Obviously, the sweet bread, which was what we called it back then, is really what built the company,” Taira says.

Fundraising was popular in the islands. Robert was the first to devise the use of tickets for fundraising. An organization would sell tickets, but would only pay for those redeemed in the bakery. “For King's, it forced people to come into the bakery to pick up the sweet bread, and of course they'd buy cakes and other products as well,” Taira says. “My father became the biggest fundraiser in the islands.”

A piece of Hawaii heads to the mainland

Eventually, people on the mainland began taking an interest in the company's unique product. When local people from the islands travel, it is customary to take gifts to whomever they visit. King's Hawaiian sweet bread became a popular gift item, which would include a mail-order form. “Mail order became a huge business for us,” Taira says. “We were the biggest customer for the post office in Hawaii.”