Spreckels' California Sugar Co. on Potrero Point, San Francisco c. 1881

Claus Spreckels' appetite for business success grew in tandem with his ego. He liked to win, and did not respond benignly to opposition. This led him to seek control in every endeavor he undertook. He vertically integrated his West Coast sugar refining operations so that he could control his supply of raw materials -- first, in sugar cane, then in sugar beets.

Cane Fields Maui Central Valley

He bought and bribed his way to land and water rights in Hawaii so that he could control the inputs to his cane fields.

He built his own railroad network on the island of Maui so that his cane-haulers would not be hobbled by mud.

He and other growers sourced a huge contract labor force, completely altering the demographics and cultural destiny of Maui.

He built his own shipping line so that he could control transport of raw sugar from Hawaii to his refineries in California. Every system he bought or built, he made more efficient.

Hawaiian King David Kalakaua The Party Boy Who Let It All Slip Away

He was one of many ambitious robber barons of his era. He played a major role, though not the decisive one, in bringing down the Hawaiian monarchy.

Together with a handful of other sugar growers, he repurposed the natural Eden of Maui to his own capitalistic purposes. He dreamed big, though many of his tactics were small-minded and spurred by narrow-gauge self-interest.

His sugar empire did not last, although his wealth did.

The sweet curse cast by Spreckels and other major sugar refiners globally taints our foodways today in the forms of obesity and diabetes epidemics.