Hunt’s

In 1888, Joseph and William Hunt launched a small preserving business in Santa Rosa, California. Two years later, it was incorporated as the Hunt Brothers Fruit Packing Company. During their first year, they canned thirty thousand cases. They expanded in the following years and outgrew their canning facility. In 1896, the brothers moved their operation to Hayward, California. At the turn of the century, they produced an extensive line of fruit and vegetable products. However they did make one major mistake: shortly after Hawai’i was acquired by the United States, Hunt Brothers was offered exclusive importing rights for Hawai’ian pineapple but passed up the opportunity, because they did not think that pineapples would be popular with the American public.