Honolulu’s harbor held but little shipping on June 16, 1851 when Captain
John E. Gillespie brought the American ship “Adirondack” off port after a
voyage of 80 days from Sydney, Australia.
Among the Adirondacks passengers was Robert Love, a native of
Glasgow, Scotland, his wife and their three sons, disembarking in Honolulu
on June 19th. Robert Love was a baker and a British subject, and both
him and his wife were 35 years old.
On July 12, 1851, less than a month after Love’s arrival, the Ministry of the
Interior issued to him a retail store license permitting him to operate a
bakery and sell its products. The site of this first bakery was at the time
called “Nuuanu Street”.
The principle income of the bakers of Honolulu during the 1850’s came
from re-baking ships’ bread which had become unfit for use during long
voyages, and from re-provisioning ships’ stores with Pilot or Navy Bread.
The popular name, “Love’s Biscuit and Bread Company, Ltd.,” by which the
bakery had been known since 1915 became its legal name in June of 1941.
From the original site on “Nuuanu Street”, a new location was sought and
built in the Iwilei district. The formal opening of the new bread-making plant
was held on March 19, 1924. The site on Nuuanu continued to produce all
types of baked goods except bread and rolls. Bread and rolls were
confined to the plant in Iwilei with an expansion in 1927. A decision was
made in 1929 to concentrate its entire efforts to the wholesale business.
Consolidation of all operations at the Iwilei plant was effected January 28,
1932.
By September of 1942, plans for a new building were well along, and a
permit was issued to build a plant at 836 Kapahulu Avenue. The Kapahulu
bread-making unit was opened in July of 1943.
During December 1981, Love’s Bakery was purchased from ITT
Continental Baking Company by a well-known company in Japan called
“First Baking Co., Ltd.”.
We have since been known as DAIICHIYA-LOVE’S BAKERY, INC. The site
in Kapahulu was vacated in January 1990 after 47 years of being a
landmark in the community, relocating to its present site on Middle Street.
In keeping with the growth of the State of Hawaii, so too has the production
capacity of the new facility. From its humble beginnings of a populous of
73,138 persons in December, 1853, to an estimated populous of over a
million, Love’s has continued to provide top quality products for it’s people
and the over six million visitors to our State.
DAIICHIYA-LOVE’S BAKERY, is a monument to free enterprise such as
could have been erected only under American principles. To a unique
degree, it is the result of one family’s enterprise persevering in a free
economy.
