# King's Hawaiian

> King's Hawaiian is a family-owned bakery brand founded by Robert R. Taira in Hilo in 1950 and now headquartered in Torrance, California. Its soft, lightly sweet rolls transformed a regional bakery recipe into a national grocery staple, supported by large-scale production, foodservice distribution, restaurants, ecommerce, recipes and a carefully managed Hawaii-inspired identity.

- **Founded:** 1950
- **Headquarters:** Torrance, United States
- **Founders:** Robert R. Taira (Founder)
- **Team size:** 1,001-5,000 employees on LinkedIn; supplied company data lists approximately 5,000.
- **Products:** Original Hawaiian Sweet Bread, Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls, Honey Wheat Round Bread, Buns and slider buns, Soft Pretzel Bites
- **Notable:** Built a nationally distributed brand from a bakery Robert Taira opened in Hilo in 1950., Introduced its 12-pack Original Hawaiian Sweet Dinner Rolls in 1983, creating the brand's defining retail format., Expanded mainland production from Torrance, California, to a major bakery operation in Oakwood, Georgia.

## Products & services

- **Original Hawaiian Sweet Bread** — The soft, lightly sweet round loaf that established the brand's signature recipe.
- **Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls** — Pull-apart dinner rolls sold in familiar connected trays and multiple pack sizes.
- **Honey Wheat Round Bread** — A honey-wheat variation of the round loaf.
- **Buns and slider buns** — Hamburger, hot dog and slider formats that bring the signature bread to sandwiches and grilling occasions.
- **Soft Pretzel Bites** — Pre-salted, resealable sweet-and-salty snack bites distributed through grocery and, from 2026, Sheetz convenience stores.
- **Sauces** — Hawaii-inspired barbecue and teriyaki sauces designed for cooking, dipping and sandwiches.
- **Specialty and seasonal baked items** — Online and limited products including coconut macadamia nut bread, jalapeño rolls and ube coconut rolls.
- **Restaurants and cafés** — King's Hawaiian Bakery & Restaurant, The Local Place Bakery & Café and related restaurant concepts serving Hawaiian local dishes and bakery items.
- **Foodservice** — Wholesale products and formats for restaurants, institutions and convenience retail.
- **Ecommerce, recipes and gifting** — Direct ordering, merchandise, specialty foods, recipe content, gift certificates and retailer discovery.

## Achievements

- Built a nationally distributed brand from a bakery Robert Taira opened in Hilo in 1950.
- Introduced its 12-pack Original Hawaiian Sweet Dinner Rolls in 1983, creating the brand's defining retail format.
- Expanded mainland production from Torrance, California, to a major bakery operation in Oakwood, Georgia.
- Celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2025 with a redesigned logo and packaging system.
- Company press materials describe King's Hawaiian as America's number-one-selling dinner roll brand.
- Opened restaurant and café concepts that preserve Robert Taira's bakery recipes and Hawaiian local-food connection.
- Extended the brand beyond breads into buns, sauces, specialty bakes, snack bites and foodservice.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Original Hawaiian Sweet Soft Pretzel Bites debuted at Sheetz, the product's first move into convenience retail.
- **2026-05** — King's Hawaiian and Illumination launched limited Shake 'Em Banana Bites alongside Minions & Monsters.
- **2026-04** — A Van Leeuwen collaboration paired ube coconut ice cream with the nationwide launch of Ube Coconut Sweet Rolls.
- **2025-09** — King's Hawaiian Grill opened at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with Sodexo.
- **2025-06** — The company marked 75 years with a new logo and retail packaging designed with Mrs&Mr.

## Links

- Website: https://kingshawaiian.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kingshawaiian
- Twitter/X: https://www.twitter.com/KingsHawaiian
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/KingsHawaiianBakery
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kingshawaiian/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kingshawaiian
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kingshawaiian

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/king-s-hawaiian
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-13