Pineapple Lore

The Story of Pineapple on Maui and Beyond
In 1890, Maui Pineapple Company pioneer, David Dwight Baldwin, gave birth to the pineapple industry on Maui with the first plantings of this bromeliad fruit in Ha‘iku, East Maui. In 1903, the Ha‘iku Fruit & Packing Company was established as the premier pineapple plantation on Maui by owners and brothers, Henry P. Baldwin and D. Dwight Baldwin. Maui Pineapple Company, Ltd. was first organized in 1909 when it was known as the Keahua Ranch Company. By 1912, H.P. Baldwin’s Honolua Ranch in West Maui planted its first pineapple acreage.

Across the vast oceans, the origins of pineapple began in southern Brazil and Paraguay. Native tribes who sailed up through South and Central America to the West Indies are thought to have spread its growth before Columbus arrived in the new world. The fruit was originally known as “anana” – a Caribbean word meaning “excellent fruit.”

Christopher Columbus is responsible for introducing pineapple to Europe, following his exploration of the Caribbean islands in 1493, when he brought samples to Queen Isabella of Spain. Pineapple was subsequently spread around the world on sailing ships that carried it for sailors to eat as protection against scurvy. Records indicate that Spaniard Don Francisco Paula de Marin first planted pineapple in the Hawaiian Islands in 1813.

European explorers called the fruit “Pine of the Indies.” Later, when pine was introduced to the English, the word “apple” was added to associate it with another delicious fruit that people enjoyed. And, the “pineapple” that we recognize today was born.

Pineapple Culture
Caribbean native tribes would place pineapple bodies or crowns outside the entrances to their dwellings as symbols of friendship and welcome. In Peru, the pineapple was used as a decorative design theme on ancient pottery. Europeans eventually adopted the motif and the fruit was represented in carvings over doorways in Spain, England and later, in New England. Today, pineapple is recognized as the “symbol of hospitality” in Hawai‘i.