The sweet rolls are melt-in-your-mouth delicious, but they're not as unique a concept as you might think!
The Real Reason King’s Hawaiian Bread Is So Popular
Updated on Jul. 14, 2025
Even if you’ve never had a King’s Hawaiian roll, you can still probably recognize the bright orange packaging with the crown on it. And if you encounter someone who’s a fan of the bread, you know that they’re probably a big fan.
Why is King’s Hawaiian bread so popular? King’s Hawaiian rolls, in particular, have a devoted fan following that holds them far above all other dinner rolls. And if you’ve never had one—or perhaps even if you have—you may have wondered what exactly it is that makes them so special. Keep reading, because we have the secret.
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What makes King’s Hawaiian bread different?
The major difference that separates King’s Hawaiian rolls from other dinner rolls is a distinct sweetness. Big fans will also tout their texture along with the flaky outside and fluffy interior as reasons they’re so delectable.
But those features aren’t revolutionary when it comes to bread rolls, and there’s no magic secret ingredient or recipe either. Of course, it certainly is true that the rolls are good, and they never would’ve gained the popularity they have if they weren’t delicious.
The original founder, Robert R. Taira, was top of his baking class. But the concept of a fluffy bread roll with a distinctive sweet taste was not an invention of the King’s Hawaiian company, and they don’t act like it was.
How King’s Hawaiian got its start
King’s Hawaiian began as Robert’s Bakery, in the 1950s in Hilo, Hawaii. Taira’s recipe, while indeed delicious, was a type of bread already well-known in Hawaii, called Portuguese sweet bread. The recipe combines milk, sugar, yeast, flour and sometimes pineapple juice to add that delightful sweetness to the roll, and it reflects the strong Portuguese influences in Hawaiian cuisine.
People did love Robert’s Bakery, but its initial growth was fairly modest. A decade after first opening, it opened a new location in Honolulu, now called King’s Bakery. As the Honolulu location gained popularity, and Taira noticed that many people were sending the bread back to the mainland as souvenirs, he came up with the idea of opening a bakery on the mainland. That bakery, the first with the actual “King’s Hawaiian” name, was in Torrance, California, and Taira had found a gold mine.
Why is King’s Hawaiian bread so popular today?
Essentially, the company that became King’s Hawaiian brought Hawaiian-style sweet rolls to the mainland, and they did it right. Consumers across the country, who were new to this sweet type of bread, loved it.
Eventually, Taira used his sweet bread recipe for a new product: a 12-pack of Original Dinner Rolls, perfect for mass production. People bought the rolls for hamburgers, pulled pork sandwiches and regular dinner rolls. The packaging also had an eye-catching, bright orange crown logo that solidified them as a grocery staple not just in Hawaii, but in stores throughout the U.S. And if you’ve ever tasted a King’s Hawaiian roll, you’ll know why King’s Hawaiian bread is so popular.
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Sources:
- King’s Hawaiian: “Our Story: Discover the Legacy of Kings Hawaiian”
