Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company

The story of Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company spans nearly 140 years of Maui history beginning in 1869 - but actually starts some 26 years earlier with a boyhood friendship fostered in the bustling whaling port of Lahai

Samuel Thomas Alexander and Henry Perrine Baldwin, both sons of missionaries, grew up on Maui's west side but took divergent paths at a young age. Alexander went to the Mainland twice - first as a California farmer and a gold miner and then to attend college in New England. Baldwin, staying on Maui, began working for his brother raising sugar cane in Lahaina. Around that time Alexander returned to Maui to teach. A project with his students on sugar cane and banana growing, led to an offer to be a sugar plantation manager at Waihee Mill near Wailuku. Soon after starting his new job, Alexander hired Baldwin as his assistant and their lifetime working relationship began.

Each contributed substantial strengths to the partnership. Alexander, more adventurous, was the idea man and principal fund raiser. Reserved Baldwin was the doer, the man who brought projects to completion - and who, over time, became the first head of the house of Alexander & Baldwin.

In 1869, the partners bought 12 acres of land between Paia and Makawao. After augmenting this with an additional 559 acres, they planted their first sugar crop in 1870. And today's Alexander & Baldwin was born.

As the partners expanded their sugar holdings, it became obvious that they would need a bigger and more reliable supply of water than was then available. Alexander devised an irrigation system that would tap mountain streams and rivulets on the slopes of Haleakala and then transport sufficient water for their 3,000 acres of cane and other nearby plantations - over 17 rugged miles of rain forest, ridges and ravines. Thus was born the Hamakua Ditch.

It fell to Baldwin to oversee the digging of miles of ditches and tunnels, building of flumes and the strategic placement of pipes for the aqueduct project. Baldwin, who had lost his arm in a plantation accident just months before the onset of the project, personally led workers on the steep 450-foot Maliko Gulch portion of the project, the last serious barrier to the project.

The project was finished within the two-year time frame stipulated by the partnership's lease, thus keeping the project from reverting to the government and the hands of competitor and sugar refiner Claus Spreckels who had arrived from San Francisco in 1876 and formed the Hawaiian Commercial Company in central Maui. The Hamakua Ditch Company, now known as the East Maui Irrigation Company, became the oldest subsidiary of A&B.

In 1900, after 30 years as a partnership, Alexander & Baldwin incorporated and began operations as an "agent." Agencies were the catalysts for Hawai'i's sugar industry by arranging supplies for the plantations, shipping for sugar and molasses, and a variety of financing opportunities. By providing financing, A&B began investing heavily in its client's companies and - by having a voice in their business affairs - helped increase productivity and the dividends that were a critical source of its income.

Following the 1948 merger of HC&S and Maui Agriculture Co., HC&S became a division of Alexander & Baldwin, opening the way for its Maui operations to become one of the industry's most advanced and productive plantation and mill businesses.

Through world wars, droughts, hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters, the Maui sugar industry has flourished, thanks to the combined efforts and dedication of thousands of men and women. Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, German, Scottish, Scandinavian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Puerto Rican, Afro-American, Korean and Filipino immigrants to Hawaii supplemented the Hawaiian workforce and provided the lifeline and backbone of Maui sugar and, as a result, became the foundation for today's Maui community.

Over time, new generations of Maui residents have blended their skills, caring commitment and enthusiasm to make HC&S and the Maui sugar industry the finest in the state and a powerful social and economic force for the betterment of the Valley Isle.

Historical Highlights of Alexander & Baldwin

Samuel Thomas Alexander and Henry Perrine Baldwin invested jointly in 12 acres and in 1870 started a sugar cane plantation after the addition of 559 acres.

The completion of the Hamakua Ditch, a 17 mile irrigation system built to feed over 3000 acres of sugar cane. The ditch was a massive undertaking which had to be completed in two years or the irrigation system and lands would revert back to the government and into the hands of a rival sugar cane competitor, Claus Spreckels

HC&S merges with Maui Agricultural Company to become the largest sugar producer in the United States.

HC&S abandons the railroad as the main sugar cane transportation system ushering in a new era of Tournahauler. Tournahaulers were the largest motor vehicles in Hawaii at the time used to carry harvested cane from the field to the plantation's two factories.

HC&S celebrates its 100th anniversary by breaking all production records processing 151,408 tons of sugar.

The process of drip-irrigation is implemented making HC&S the largest farm in the US, and possible the world, using this type of irrigation. This method allows HC&S to efficiently deliver much needed water and fertilizer to the thirsty crop.

HC&S installs a 15,000 Kilowatt Turbo generator which produces 2.2 million kwh annually from processed cane stock known as bagasse. The electricity generated by the Pu'unene plant supplies enough energy to satisfy the electrical needs of the plant as well as supplying up to 10% of the electricity for the island of Maui.