C. Brewer & Co.

C. Brewer & Co., Ltd. was a company headquartered in Honolulu and recognized as one of the Big Five enterprises in the Territory of Hawaii, with a primary focus on agriculture.

History

Established in 1826 by Captain James Hunnewell from Massachusetts, C. Brewer holds the distinction of being the oldest among the Big Five. The company initially engaged in trading sandalwood with China. In 1828, Henry Augustus Peirce joined the firm and eventually became a partner. Charles Brewer entered as a partner in 1835, and following Peirce’s retirement in 1843, Brewer redirected the company’s operations toward provisioning whaling vessels and general merchandise.

Leadership passed through several prominent figures, including James Fowler Baldwin Marshall, Francis Johnson, Sherman Peck, and Charles H. Lunt. The name C. Brewer was revitalized under Charles Brewer II’s leadership in 1859. From 1862 to 1874, Henry Alpheus Peirce Carter was also a partner.

C. Brewer ventured into Hawaii's sugar sector beginning in 1863, managing plantations on Maui and expanding its holdings by acquiring the Pepeekeo Sugar Company on Hawaii Island in 1904. By 1925, the company controlled about one-quarter of Hawaii's sugar output and ranked among the largest landowners. Its 1930 headquarters building located in downtown Honolulu is now recognized as a historic site.

In 1959, the company diversified into macadamia nut cultivation, ultimately becoming the leading global producer under the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation by the 1990s.

From 1978 until 1986, C. Brewer was owned by IU International Corporation. A management-led buyout valued at $200 million in 1986 restored ownership to local investors but increased financial liabilities, resulting in the separation of macadamia nut operations. The company ceased sugar production by shutting down its Maui facilities in 1988 and those on Hawaii Island by 1994; its real estate division was spun off in 1993. In 1998, the corporate headquarters moved to Hilo.

By the late twentieth century, C. Brewer maintained roughly statewide agricultural holdings. In 2000, Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut was sold to The Shansby Group. The following year, shareholders approved liquidation of C. Brewer & Co., Ltd., which officially dissolved in 2006. Chairman John W. A. "Doc" Buyers acquired key assets and established D. Buyers Enterprises, concentrating on ventures within the wellness sector.

Archives and records

• James Hunnewell papers at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School
• (1884 Book) Reminisces, by Charles Brewer