Island Princess Acquires Gift Company Asano of Hawaii

Island Princess, manufacturer of specialty macadamia nut products, announced today that it has acquired wholesale gifts company Asano of Hawaii and renamed it Asano Gifts of Hawaii.

In purchasing Asano, Island Princess will now have a wholesale stake in selling omiyage—gifts that Japanese visitors take home.

Company officials said in a statement that the move also enables Island Princess to enhance Asano’s relationships with key Japanese tour companies, such as JCB International, Jalpak International Hawaii, and Kinetsu International Hawaii, among others.

According to Gwen Purdy, who founded Island Princess with her husband Michael in 1985, the acquisition became official on October 1.

“Asano of Hawaii has a reputation for providing an outstanding assortment of omiyage items along with the very best in customer service,” said Island Princess president Michael Purdy in a released statement.

“These are the same standards by which Island Process operates, making for an ideal fusion of our two companies.”

Island Princess is one of the few companies that grows, processes, manufactures, and distributes macadamia nuts and confections.

The Keaau-based company is well known for a variety of its macadamia nut candy products, including toffee covered macadamia nuts, macadamia popcorn crunch, and choco mochi .

The company’s 1,100-acre macadamia nut orchard in east Hawaii contains more than 110,000 trees and its on-site facility can process roughly 30,000 pounds of nuts in an 8-hour period. Island Princess also has a 30,000-square-foot candy factory on Oahu.