When I was a kid I remember sitting in the back of my Grandpa’s old Datsun, I could barely see out the window but I knew whenever we were on Western Avenue because I could smell the fresh bread being baked at the King’s Hawaiian factory.
Growing up, every week my mom would buy the round loaf of sweet bread that came in the orange bag. We’d take a big knife and cut off chunks for breakfast in the morning. It was so puffy and sweet, I always wondered how the bread was made and what went on in that magical factory that we’d drive past.
Cut to some thirty years later and I finally got to find out. For the first time in the 60 year history of the company, King’s Hawaiian opened it’s doors to non-family members. Much like Wonka opening his gates to the public, as one of the chosen few I felt like I had won my golden ticket.
We got to see the bread being made from start to finish, from the mixing, to the proofing, and into the oven. The smell took me right back to that childhood memory of driving by the factory.
We watched the bread travel through the maze of conveyors and head to packaging. Seeing the process was just like being invited into Wonka’s factory, although there were no chocolate waterfalls or Oompa Loompas. Just hard workers producing a quality product, doing it all with the aloha spirit.
In the end we got the rare treat of tasting the bread right out of the oven! There’s nothing as delicious as impossibly fresh sweet bread spread with the same high quality butter they use in the recipe. In Hawaii they call that “broke da mouth”, indescribably good!
As the little breads travelled along the conveyor belts I remembered the words of Mark Taira as he told us of his father Robert’s first little bakery on King Street in Hilo, which was how he got the name for the bakery.
Mark Taira
Robert was an entrepreneur and had a vision, he saw the future for his family on the mainland with his unique product, always keeping in mind the aloha spirit throughout his business’ growth.
Today King’s Hawaiian has moved beyond the round loaves of Portuguese bread, to sliced sandwich bread, hot dog buns, sandwich rolls, and more, as well as a large restaurant bakery in Torrance and a casual take out called the Local Place.
Much like my childhood, I also feed my kids King’s Hawaiian bread now. I make a special visit to the bakery every week to pick up the freshest bread and pastries, have dinner or order their now legendary King’s Hawaiian Paradise Cake—something that has become a tradition for all of our major family events. I even memorialized our love of the cake by drawing a picture of O.G. HOLDING a piece of Paradise Cake ON a Paradise Cake. It doesn’t get better or tastier than that. I’m also proud to announce that I’m now a featured blogger on the new King’s Hawaiian website. I feel like part of the ohana already!
At the end of the tour the Taira family treated us to a private food truck fest and a buffet of King’s Hawaiian desserts (recap here) and to make our trip even more special they sent us home with a giant box of all the products that King’s Hawaiian makes!
*This article was originally published on her website, justJENN recipes, on August 29, 2012.
© 2012 Jenn Fujikawa
