A Sweet Deal?

I was shocked to see the headlines on the Star-bulletin website indicating Hershey to buy Mauna Loa!

I have mixed feelings about big mainland corporations buying out locally-owned companies like Mauna Loa Mac. After all, isn't it part of the charm to buy a distinctly "Hawaiian" product that is produced by a company that is owned and operated in Hawaii?

Once owned by Hershey, I wonder if the quality of the macadamia nut chocolates will be affected (either negatively or positively) since it will probably end up being mass produced with the rest of its chocolates?

I suppose only time will tell.

I don't think I'll ever look at a Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut chocolate the same way once the Hershey name is attached to it. But that's just me. What are your thoughts? Am I overreacting?

Comments

No, no overreaction. I think adding the Hershey tag to the Mauna Loa box will diminish the cache formerly associated with the all-Hawaiian product.

Thing is, Mauna Loa isn't locally-owned anymore. The VC group Hershey is buying them from is out of SF. I understand your concern over seeing "Hershey" with Mauna Loa, but who knows how long they haven't been owned locally? Hopefully it won't end up like Kings "Hawaiian" Bread, based out of LA.

I agree with supporting local people who do local things. That's why I'm encouraging you to get your chocolate fill at Menehune Mac (www.menehunemac.com)

I just recently redesigned their website, so it's a lot more delicious and that hunger-inducing orange tone will keep you hungry for hours :)

My own credentials with the Hershey Food Corp. is that I on impulse buy a Hershey chocolate bar -- the one with the almonds -- about once every two weeks. The reason that I brought this up is that Hershey uses a lot of almonds in its chocolate bars, which may reflect on how the company treats its other products as well. I don't know. That might or might not be true. Since the only other Hershey product I eat is "Health toffee bar", and that's okay too. No "Hugs" or "Kisses" for me :). To my belief, Hershey also introduced the first white-chocolate bar. Which makes them also innovative, I suppose. I might mention here that the only way these companies survive is that people actually go out and buy their products. Brings to mind the Tahitian Lanai in Waikiki, for instance. So many people expressed sadness when the joint had to close up. But when you ask these same people how many times they drank or ate at the Tahitian Lanai, it wouldn't surprise you that they hadn't been there in years, and when they did patronage the place, it was maybe only once or twice a year. Ditto for Mauna Loa products.

I'm not in the know to who owns the Hershey Foods Corp. today, but its founder, Milton Hershey's pursuits went beyond milk chocolate. Notably to him and his wife establishing a school for orphans, which was a subject of a "60 Minutes" program. The town where the company started out has its own amusement park, golf course, public park and museum all through the benevolence of the Hershey founder. Hersey also financed a medical center at one of the in-state universities. If the present company carries out the same philosophy as its founder did, Hershey Foods Corp., will be a benefit to the state, albeit not in the material way, but in a social sense. I don't know who owns or runs the Hershey Company nowadays, so that might be making a broad statement. However, the town of Hershey, "the sweetess place on earth", has a website.

Hm.

I prefer the Island Princess brand myself. The chocolate and toffee covered macs are an expensive addiction (particulary since I got moved back to the mainland) but oh, so WORTH IT. The best stuff, though is found at the Swap Meet in some of those stalls that feature the home-made goodies. (sigh)

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