Skip to Content

Who makes Hawaiian dinner rolls?

Hawaiian dinner rolls, sometimes called Hawaiian sweet rolls, are a popular type of yeast-leavened bread roll made with eggs, butter, and pineapple juice. The sweet, fluffy texture and slightly sweet flavor make them a favorite for serving alongside meals or using to make sandwiches. But who actually makes these iconic Hawaiian rolls that are now found everywhere from grocery store bakeries to restaurants across the mainland U.S.?

The History of Hawaiian Dinner Rolls

The origins of Hawaiian dinner rolls can be traced back to the mid-20th century in Hawaii. According to food historians, Hawaiian residents who were of Portuguese descent began making a variant of Portuguese sweet bread known as pan de sal, modifying it with the tropical ingredients found on the islands. Eggs, coconut milk, mashed bananas or pineapple juice were used to give the dough a sweeter flavor and soft texture.

Small, round individual rolls were formed from the enriched dough, often with a crease down the middle, and baked until golden brown. These little sweet bread rolls soon became a staple at local restaurants and gatherings in Hawaii. Their popularity began to spread to the mainland U.S. as Hawaiian culture gained more mainstream attention through music, media and tourism in the 1950s and 60s. published cookbooks like “The Hawaiian Cookbook” (1967) and “Hawaiian and Pacific Foods Cookbook” (1974) helped introduce the concept of Hawaiian dinner rolls to those living in the continental states.

King’s Hawaiian Bakery

The Hawaiian bakery most credited with popularizing Hawaiian dinner rolls across the U.S. is King’s Hawaiian Bakery. Founded by Robert R. Taira in Hilo, Hawaii in 1950, the bakery started out selling sliced bread, donuts, and butter rolls. In the 1960s, Taira developed his now-famous Hawaiian sweet bread recipe after months of experimentation. According to the company, he used a special natural starter culture along with pineapple juice, eggs, and other ingredients to create its signature flavor and soft texture.

King’s Hawaiian sweet bread was sold in loaves at the bakery, but Taira also made the key decision to offer the bread in round individual rolls. The convenience of the portable, portion-controlled rolls as well as their sweet taste made them a big hit in Hawaii. Over the next few decades, King’s Hawaiian Bakery expanded to bakeries on the mainland, starting in Torrance, California in 1977.

By the 1990s, King’s Hawaiian dinner rolls were being sold at supermarkets and served at restaurants throughout the western U.S. Their distribution expanded across the entire continental U.S. in the 2000s, helped by the company’s frozen dough program launched in 2003. Today, you can find King’s Hawaiian dinner rolls in grocery stores across all 50 states, though they are still made with the same recipe and process pioneered by Taira back in the 1960s.

The Recipe and Process

According to King’s Hawaiian, their authentic Hawaiian dinner rolls start with a natural preferment called a starter culture that dates back over 60 years. This contributes to the rolls’ unique flavor and soft texture. The dough is made with the starter culture along with ingredients like eggs, milk, pineapple juice, sugar, and butter to enrich it. It is kneaded and proofed before being sheeted and cut into the characteristic small, round roll shapes. A final proofing gives them an airy, fluffy interior before the rolls are baked to a golden brown color.

The kitchens also brush each roll with a signature glaze of butter, sugar, and eggs after baking. This helps achieve the shiny, crackly tops and caramelized taste. While the exact recipes and techniques used by King’s Hawaiian Bakery today remain proprietary secrets, they have stayed true to the original process developed by Taira decades ago.

Other Major Producers

In addition to being the original creator of Hawaiian dinner rolls for the mainland market, King’s Hawaiian continues to be the top-selling brand today. According to statistics portal Statista, King’s Hawaiian holds a 60% market share in the U.S. for Hawaiian rolls and bread. But other major bread and dough companies have also gotten into the market over the years with their own versions:

Aloha Island Rolls

Made by Georgia-based Flowers Foods, Aloha Island rolls are another brand of Hawaiian dinner rolls commonly found in supermarkets across the country. Flowers Foods is best known as the producer of Nature’s Own bread but also makes brands like Tastykake desserts and Dave’s Killer Bread. The Aloha Island rolls are made with similar ingredients as King’s Hawaiian rolls like eggs, pineapple juice and sugar.

Pillsbury Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

Pillsbury, owned by General Mills, offers Hawaiian sweet rolls that can be purchased refrigerated or frozen. Like King’s and Aloha, Pillsbury Hawaiian rolls are made with pineapples and eggs baked into a lightly sweetened yeast dough. Pillsbury refrigerated doughs allow consumers to bake fresh rolls at home.

Rhodes Hawaiian Dinner Rolls

Rhodes Bake-N-Serv, founded in Atlanta in the 1960s, produces frozen bread and roll dough sold at grocery stores. Their Hawaiian dinner rolls are made from a recipe that includes pineapple, coconut, eggs, and other enriching ingredients for a sweet flavor and tender texture.

Sara Lee Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

Under parent company Bimbo Bakeries USA, Sara Lee offers a version of Hawaiian rolls made with pineapple juice, eggs, and milk. The plant-based vegan Hawaiian sweet rolls are dairy-free. Sara Lee Hawaiian sweet rolls are sold refrigerated and ready to be baked off at home.

Trader Joe’s Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

Grocery chain Trader Joe’s has their own exclusive brand of Hawaiian dinner rolls made with pineapple juice and sugar. Their Hawaiian sweet rolls tend to be only seasonally available for the holidays when demand is highest for the rolls.

Walmart and Store Brands

Major grocery chains often offer store brand versions of Hawaiian rolls, like Walmart’s Great Value Hawaiian Sweet Rolls or Kroger’s Private Selection Hawaiian Sweet Rolls. These budget-friendly options let consumers enjoy the flavor of Hawaiian rolls without paying premium prices.

Conclusion

While King’s Hawaiian Bakery originated the unique style of Hawaiian dinner roll over 60 years ago, several major bread and dough companies have followed their lead over the decades to produce their own versions of these iconic rolls. However, King’s Hawaiian still remains the clear market leader when it comes to Hawaiian rolls, producing over one million of their sweet, fluffy rolls every day for distribution across the United States.

So when you bite into a soft, sweet Hawaiian roll, you can thank a small bakery in Hilo, Hawaii for first creating and popularizing this now beloved American treat. With their distinctive process and original recipes still used today, King’s Hawaiian Bakery has defined the true Hawaiian dinner roll enjoyed for special meals, sliders, and sandwiches nationwide.