Diamond Bakery has been around for almost 100 years and is still churning out over a million crackers and thousands of cookies per day.
Much of the factory equipment dates back to the 1970s, when the company modernized and moved to Kalihi. The old “stamper,” which shapes the crackers, has been the heartbeat of the company, buttressed by two gigantic ovens that fill most of the warehouse. The one for crackers is at least 50 yards long, and the cookie oven, 40 yards long.
More sophisticated, computerized systems are added all the time, but more noticeable to customers is probably the updated packaging with brighter colors and larger graphics.
The familiar red cardboard tray, with a row of crackers covered in cellophane, is still out there, but in the past few years, cookies have been repackaged in stand-up, resealable foil bags, or smaller boxes. Crackers are available in smaller portion sizes in grab-and-go boxes at cashier counters.
Maggi Yan Li, sales and marketing director for the 97-year-old company, said the new look was designed to attract millennials, who may have loved eating Diamond crackers at Grandma’s house but never bought the products themselves.
In order to catch the eye of a new generation of shoppers, recipes and products were restructured with more natural ingredients, different shapes and a variety of flavors.
THE FAMILY
The company was founded in 1921 in McCully by three Japanese immigrants — Hidgoro Murai, Kikutao Hiruya and Natsu Muramoto — who named it after the famous Diamond Head landmark.
In 1937 they hired experienced baker Sam Dunphy to oversee production. The company took a giant leap forward from a manual operation to semi-automatic commercial equipment when it moved to 756 Moowaa St. in Kalihi in the 1970s.
The families’ second and third generations kept a hand in the business until the move, but the company has been run on their behalf by a management company since.
CLAIMS TO FAME
Saloon Pilot, Royal Creem, and Soda Crackers have been sold by the company since the start. Li said Diamond Bakery’s trademark crackers have been the No. 1 sellers in Hawaii for decades because they are “very hardy, thick and crunchy. Our competitors’ are more flaky.”
Add them to chili or soup and they’ll hold up well — they won’t get mushy or dissolve, not even the graham crackers, introduced in the 1970s, that kids like to dip in milk.
ALSO KNOWN FOR
The company made coconut, candy bead and chocolate chip cookies for decades, but they were never whisked off the shelves and didn’t attract tourists at all. All that changed in August 2016 when the company started making pineapple shortbread for “omiyage” for tourists to take home.
The shortbread was such a hit that it became available at duty-free shops that winter, and other flavors were added, including Kona coffee, coconut and lilikoi. While the shortbread grabbed the spotlight, it also drew more attention to the older varieties in spiffy new packaging. The bakery cranks out a quarter- to a half-million cookies per day.
WHAT’S NEW
A macadamia nut line of cookies was followed by a unique taro flavor and other local favorites such as lilikoi and pineapple. Animal crackers, available in the 1960s in traditional jungle animal shapes, were recently expanded to include sea animals. These are scooped up by tourists and now are available in chocolate, too.
Future ideas include biscuits and chocolate-dipped cookies.
WHERE TO BUY
Local supermarkets, Longs Drugs, 7-Eleven and many other retailers; distributors in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle and Japan. Visit diamondbakery.com or onlyfromhawaii.com.
“Old Friends” is a new feature catching up with long-time local food producers. Email suggestions to crave@staradvertiser.com or call Pat Gee at 529-4749.
