Sugarcane was introduced toHawaiʻi by itsfirst inhabitants in approximately 600 AD and was observed byCaptain Cook upon arrival in the islands in 1778.^[1] Sugar quickly turned into abig business and generated rapid population growth in the islands with 337,000 peopleimmigrating over the span of a century.^[2] The sugar grown and processed in Hawaiʻi was shipped primarily to the United States and, in smaller quantities, globally. Sugarcane and pineapple plantations were the largest employers in Hawaiʻi.^[3] Sugar production ended in 2016, with a small quantity of sugarcane still being grown for the manufacture ofRhum agricole.

Sugarcane was introduced toHawaiʻi byPolynesians in approximately 600 AD and was observed byCaptain Cook upon arrival in the islands in 1778.^[1] They selected varieties that grew well across the broad spectrum of habitats in Hawaiʻi.^[4] Industrial sugar production started slowly in Hawaiʻi. The first sugar mill was created onthe island of Lānaʻi in 1802 by an unidentified Chinese man who returned to China in 1803.^[1] TheOld Sugar Mill, established in 1835 byLadd & Co., is the site of the first sugar plantation. In 1836 the first 8,000 pounds (3,600 kg) of sugar andmolasses was shipped to the United States.^[1] The plantation town ofKoloa, was established adjacent to the mill.

By the 1840s sugarcane plantations gained a foothold in Hawaiian agriculture. Steamships provided rapid and reliable transportation to the islands, and demand increased during theCalifornia Gold Rush.^[5] The land division law of 1848 (known as theGreat Māhele) displaced Hawaiian people from their land, forming the basis for the sugarcaneplantation economy.^[6] In 1850, the law was amended to allow foreign residents to buy and lease land.^[5] In 1850, when California attained statehood, profits declined and the number of plantations decreased to five due to the import tariff that was instituted.^[7] Market demand increased even further during the onset of theAmerican Civil War which prevented Southern sugar from being shipped northward.^[8] The price of sugar rose 525% from 4 cents per pound in 1861 to 25 cents in 1864.^[5] TheReciprocity Treaty of 1875 allowed Hawaiʻi to sell sugar to the United States without paying duties or taxes, greatly increasing plantation profits.^[9] This treaty also guaranteed that all of the resources including land, water, human labor power, capital, and technology would be thrown behindsugarcane cultivation.^[6][10] The1890 McKinley Tariff Act, an effort by the United States government to decrease the competitive pricing of Hawaiian sugar, paid 2 cents per pound to mainland producers. After significantlobbying efforts, this act wasrepealed in 1894.^[8] By 1890, 75% of all Hawaiʻi privately held land was owned by foreign businessmen.

The industry was tightly controlled by descendants ofmissionary families and other businessmen, concentrated in corporations known in Hawaiʻi as the "Big Five".^[2] These includedCastle & Cooke,Alexander & Baldwin,C. Brewer & Co., H. Hackfeld & Co. (later named American Factors (nowAmfac)) andTheo H. Davies & Co.,^[11] which together eventually gained control over other aspects of the Hawaiian economy including banking, warehousing, shipping, and importing.^[6] This control of commodity distribution kept Hawaiians burdened under high prices and toiling under a diminishedquality of life.^[6] These businessmen had perfected the double-edged sword of capitalism – a wage-earning labor force dependent upon plantation goods and services.^[9] Close ties as missionaries to theHawaiian monarchy along with capital investments, cheap land, cheaplabor, and increased global trade, allowed them to prosper.^[6] Alexander & Baldwin acquired additional sugar lands and also operated a sailing fleet between Hawai`i and the mainland. That shipping concern became American-Hawaiian Line, and laterMatson.^[12] Later the sons and grandsons of the early missionaries played central roles in theoverthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in 1893, creating a short-lived republic. In 1898, theRepublic of Hawaiʻi was annexed by the United States and became theTerritory of Hawaiʻi, aided by the lobbying of the sugar interests.

When Hawaiian plantations began to produce on a large scale, it became obvious that a labor force needed to be imported. The Hawaiian population was one-sixth (17%) of its pre-1778 size due to ravaging diseases brought in by foreigners.^[6] Additionally, Hawaiian people saw little use for working on the plantations when they could easily subsist by farming and fishing.^[9] Plantation owners quickly began importing workers which dramatically changed Hawaiʻi's demographics and is an extreme example ofglobalization.

In 1850 the first imported worker arrived from China.^[9] Between 1852 and 1887, almost 50,000Chinese individuals arrived to work in Hawaiʻi, while 38% of them returned to China.^[9] Although help was needed to work the fields, new problems, like feeding, housing and caring for new employees, were created for many of the planters since the Chinese immigrants did not live off the land like Native Hawaiians, who required little support.^[13] To prevent their workforce from organizing effectively against them, plantation managers diversified the ethnicities of their workforce, and in 1878 the first Japanese arrived to work on the plantations.^[1] Between 1885 and 1924, 200,000 Japanese people arrived with 55% returning to Japan.^[9] Between 1903 and 1910, 7,300Koreans arrived and only 16% returned toKorea.^[9] In 1906Filipino people first arrived. Between 1909 and 1930, 112,800 Filipinos came to Hawaiʻi with 36% returning to thePhilippines.^[9]

Plantation owners worked hard to maintain a hierarchicalcaste system that prevented worker organization, and divided the camps based on ethnic identity.^[2] An interesting outcome of this multi-cultural workforce and globalization of plantation workers was the emergence of a common language. Known asHawaiian Pidgin, this hybrid primarily of Hawaiian, English, Japanese, Chinese, and Portuguese allowed plantation workers to communicate effectively with one another and promoted a transfer of knowledge and traditions among the groups.^[14] A comparison of 1959–2005 racial categories shows the ongoing shifts.

A unique operation was the Kohala Sugar Company, known as "The Missionary Plantation" since it was founded by ReverendElias Bond in 1862 to support his church and schools. He protested the slave-like conditions, and the profits made him one of the largest benefactors to other missions. It operated for 110 years.^[15]

Sugar plantations dramatically impacted the environment around them. In an 1821 account, prior to the entrenchment of sugarcane plantations inAiea, the area is described as belonging to many different people and being filled withtaro and banana plantations along with afish pond.^[2] Thissubsistence farming would not last long.

Plantations were strategically located throughout the Hawaiian Islands for reasons including: fertile soil area, level topography, sufficient water for irrigation, and a mild climate with little annual variation.^[2] These plantations transformed the land primarily to suit water needs: construction of tunnels to divert water from the mountains to the plantations, reservoir construction, and well digging.^[1]

Water was always a serious concern for plantation managers and owners. In the early 20th century, it took one ton (1000 L) of water to produce one pound (500 g) of refined sugar.^[8] This inefficient use of water and the relative lack of fresh water in the island environment were fiercely compoundingenvironmental degradation. Sugar processing places significant demands on resources including irrigation, coal, iron, wood, steam, and railroads for transportation.^[10]

Early mills were extremely inefficient, producing molasses in four hours using an entirecord of wood (3.6 m3 ) to do so.^[10] This level of wood use caused dramaticdeforestation. At times,ecosystems were entirely destroyed unnecessarily. One plantation drained ariparian area of 600 acres (240 ha) to produce cane.^[10] After draining the land and forever altering the biodiversity levels, they discovered it was an ancient forest, so they harvested the trees for timber, only then to find that the land was completely unsuitable for sugarcane production.^[10]

Sugar plantations suffered from many of the same afflictions that manufacturing market segments in the United States continue to feel. Labor costs increased significantly when Hawaiʻi became a state and workers were no longer effectivelyindentured servants. The hierarchical caste system plantation managers sought to maintain began to break down, with greater racial integration of the sugarcane plantations. Workers began to discover they had rights, and in 1920 waged the firstmulti-cultural strike.^[9] Global politics played a large role in the downfall of Hawaiian sugar. Shifting political alliances between 1902 and 1930 permittedCuba to have a larger share of the United States sugar market, holding 45% of the domestic quota while Hawaiʻi, the Philippines, andPuerto Rico shared 25%.^[6]

The Big Five slowed the production of sugar as cheaper labor was found in India, South America and theCaribbean and concentrated their efforts on the imposition of a tourism-based society.^[6] Former plantation land was used by the conglomerates to build hotels and develop thistourist-based economy which has dominated the past 50 years of Hawaiian economics^{[citation needed]}. Hawaiʻi's last working sugar mill, inPuunene, Maui, produced the final shipment of sugar from Hawaiʻi in December 2016. The mill was permanently closed soon thereafter and the last 375 employees of the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company were laid off.^[16]Sugarcane continued to be grown in Hawaii for the purpose of producingRhum agricole.^[17]

• Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association
• John Mott-Smith (1824–1895)
• Claus Spreckels (1828–1908) –while based mostly in California
• George P. Trousseau (1833–1894)
• Rufus A. Lyman (1842–1910)
• Samuel Parker (1853–1920)
• William H. Purvis (1858–1950)
• David M. Forbes (1863–1937)

This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. (talk) Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(October 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Hawaiʻi’s sugar industry and associated businesses was controlled by five companies referred to as theBig Five. Most of these companies were founded by missionaries, or the sons of missionaries, and even into the 1930s, all had direct descendants of missionaries on their boards of directors. They not only had economic power but also political power. The Big Five’s influence and years of power and dominance overwhelmingly influenced the businesses and lives in Hawaiʻi till today.

Over 500 sugar plantations, sugar mills, and sugar growers sprung up in theHawaiian Islands since the first recorded planting of sugar cane inMānoa Valley onOʻahu in 1825. Trying to locate the plantation where your ancestors worked can be a challenge because many plantations were renamed when sold to or merged with another company. For example, in 1873, Nāʻālehu Sugar Plantation was renamed Hutchinson Sugar Plantation Co.; then Kaʻu Sugar Company. Honokaʻa Sugar Company became Davies Hāmākua Plantation Ltd.; then renamed Hāmākua Sugar Company. Pepeʻekeo is also known as Hilo Coast Processing Company. Honolulu Sugar Company became known as Aiea Sugar Mill.

• Hawaiian sugar strike of 1946

• Hawaii Plantation Village
• "Plantations,"Densho Encyclopedia article
• Waiahole Ditch Water Restoration

• Sugar plantations in Hawaii
• Sugar industry of Hawaii
• Agricultural buildings and structures in Hawaii
• History of sugar
• Pre-statehood history of Hawaii
• Sugar plantations in the United States

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from March 2023
• All accuracy disputes
• Articles with disputed statements from March 2025
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from January 2016
• Articles needing additional references from October 2025
• All articles needing additional references
• CS1 maint: location missing publisher