PUUNENE – Sugar in the Raw, the leading brand of turbinado sugar sold in the United States, has changed its packaging to promote its new source of natural cane sugar – Maui, Hawaii. The product label now reads “Natural Cane Turbinado Sugar FROM HAWAII” and features a new “Grown in MAUI, Hawaii” logo on their signature, brown single-serve packets. Maui BrandNatural Hawaiian Cane Sugars, the food-grade specialty sugars operations for Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (HC&S), a division of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALEX), is now the exclusive supplier of turbinado sugar for Sugar in the Raw. “Turbinado” is washed raw cane sugar, blond to light brown in color, which retains some of the molasses and cane flavor in its coarse crystals.

HC&S has a three-year contract to be the exclusive supplier of turbinado sugar for Sugar in the Raw, announced HC&S General Manager G. Stephen Holaday. “This is tangible progress towards our strategic objective of adding value to our products.” The new “Grown in MAUI, Hawaii” logo will be printed on each of the signature single-serve packets, as well as the 24-ounce bags and 2-pound boxes. Single serves of Sugar in the Raw can be found in food and beverage establishments, and in the retail products sections in grocery and natural foods stores throughout the United States.

“During 2002, Sugar in the Raw single-serve packets will be served in restaurants and coffee houses around the country, redesigned with the new ‘Grown in MAUI, Hawaii' logo,” said HC&S's John Kreag, VP Specialty Sugars Operations, who spearheaded this value-added marketing effort for HC&S. “The recognition will help to establish Maui Brandsugar, and HC&S, as a source of high-quality natural sugars. The specialty sugar business is small, but growing, especially among those interested in more natural sweeteners for their food and beverage recipes. More and more people are discovering that washed raw sugars have more natural character and depth, are full-bodied and have more appealing flavor dimensions.”

“This contract is a great opportunity and partnering relationship for HC&S. We're doing what we do best – cultivating and crafting the world's choicest gourmet, natural sugars – and our Sugar in the Raw partners, Sugar Foods and Cumberland are doing what they do best – providing packaging, marketing and distribution expertise,” adds Kreag. “They are very excited about featuring our plantation-grown, turbinado sugar from Maui, not only because of its high quality, but because it represents for Sugar in the Raw the first new marketing opportunity in nearly 30 years to tell a great story about their product.”

HC&S, which began making specialty sugars under its Maui Brandlabel in 1989, is the only source of 100% “food-grade” cane sugar from Hawaii. In February of this year, a $2.8 million food-grade facility at the Puunene Mill was completed, allowing HC&S to expand its production. Plans for further expansion are already underway.

Under its product line, Maui BrandNatural Hawaiian Sugar , HC&S sells two types of washed raw sugars. Maui Brand's Premium Turbinado is more amber in color with larger crystals than the turbinado sold for Sugar in the Raw. It is popularly used as a natural sweetener where a richer molasses profile is desired. It is sold in 7-ounce, 1 and 2-pound units and is available at grocery and retail stores, and in 5 and 10-pound bags at wholesale stores. Maui Brand's Plantation White is lighter in color, with just a hint of old-fashioned molasses flavor. It is a general-purpose, natural alternative to refined white sugar. Plantation White is sold in bulk to food and beverage processors and is currently available in 50-pound bags through various distributors. In 2002, Maui Brand plans to introduce Plantation White in grocery and wholesale stores in 2, 5 and 10-pound bags, making it available to households.

More information about Maui BrandNatural Hawaiian Sugars can be obtained at www.mauibrand.com.

Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company is Hawaii's largest sugar cane grower, producing 80 percent of the State's raw sugar, which is shipped to Crockett, California for further refining by C&H Sugar Company into a range of sugar products sold to consumers and used by the food and beverage industry (Alexander & Baldwin owes approximately 40% of C&H). Additional information can be obtained at its web site www.hcsugar.com.

Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company is a division of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (A&B), headquartered in Honolulu. A&B is engaged in real property development and management through its subsidiary A&B Properties, Inc.; in ocean transportation through its subsidiary Matson Navigation Company, Inc.; and in food products through Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company and Kauai Coffee Company, Inc. Additional information about A&B may be found at web site www.alexanderbaldwin.com.