Remove ImagesMaui County
The Maui 10
Who’s the county’s most powerful player?
April 05, 2007
RANK PREVIOUS COMPANY
1
2 Maui Land & Pineapple Co.
2
1
Dowling Co.
3
3
Alexander & Baldwin
4
4
Weinberg Foundation
5
5
Tesoro Hawai`i
6
6
Goodfellow Brothers
7
7
Maui Electric Co.
8
8
Monsanto Hawai`i
9
9
Hawaiian Telcom
10
10 Wailuku
Water Co.
ML&P WILL DRINK TO THAT
What's this? Maui Land & Pineapple has crawled back to the top
slot? Considering this week's big news, it's a given, wouldn't you say?
I mean, it isn't every week that a company—even one as large and
powerful as this one—has its investment pay off in such a rich manner.
I mean, anyone who puts a lot of money and effort into a project
expects a solid return, right? Isn't that to be expected? Well, we'll
all see very soon, I suspect. As you all might have surmised by now,
I'm speaking of Maui Land & Pineapple's big, big decision to start
selling pineapple juice to Hawaiian Island Spirits. Think of it!
Pineapple Vodka made with real pineapple juice from the Maui Land &
Pineapple Co.! No more having to pour pineapple juice into plain vodka
to make pineapple martinis! And it's not just vodka we're talking here,
either: according to an online Pacific Business News story posted Mar.
27, over the next 12 months ML&P and Hawaiian Island Spirits will
also develop "nonalcoholic juice blends" as well as "other than
standard wine." Other than standard wine?! That means pineapple wine!
Take that, Tedeschi Vineyard! Your days of controlling the "other than
standard wine" market are over!
NO IMPACT HERE
Oh, and it also looks like ML&P is going to get its way with the
proposed Superferry, into which the company has already poured $1
million (ML&P boss David Cole also sits on the Superferry board of
directors). Anyway, Representative Joe Souki (D, 8th District), who's
taken money from both ML&P and Hawaii Superferry, Inc., really came
through this week and killed a bill that would have required an
environmental impact statement on the Superferry. The company wouldn't
even have had to pay for the study, but that was too much for old Joe:
"It is not fair to single out the Hawai`i Superferry," Souki said in
the Mar. 29 Honolulu Advertiser. MTW