When the controlling interest in McClellan and Smith Inc. was purchased in 1997, the Company changed its name to The Poi Company, Inc., and its brand name from Ho`ai to simply “POI.”
The Company hired Kona-based artist John Thomas to design a new logo. John wasn’t a graphic designer, but an artist of considerable talent. His simple design was to use the word POI on the background of a taro leaf:
We’ve discovered that printing companies and graphic designers can alter logos along the way, but this is the original artwork from the original digital file furnished to the Company by John.
His design then became the label for poi produced by The Poi Company from 1998 until its closure in May 2002:
After the demise of The Poi Company, we moved to Europe — and haven’t been back in Hawaii since then. We’ve occasionally had some of the freeze-dried poi that the Company produced in 2001. Incredibly, it still tastes fresh seven years later: something not possible with powdered, dehydrated poi.
I was doing a bit of Google surfing the other day, and was surprised to see a remarkable transformation in the Taro Brand poi bag.
This is the traditional bag that I remember:
But it would appear that the traditional bag has partially morphed into a bag that looks, at least in my opinion, colourably similar to the John Thomas design:
A few more photos of the new Taro Brand bag:
And a close-up (slightly out-of-focus, sorry):
John died in 2001, a year before The Poi Company Inc. closed its doors. But it is a tribute to his talent that his erstwhile logo survives, in a similar format, on the poi bags of a former competitor.
I think of John Thomas often. We have two of his large paintings in our home, many thousands of miles from Hawaii.
Aloha,
I found your page while searching for any possibility of getting some poi for my upcoming first keiki.
Unfortunately, Scotland is not the easiest or quickest place to ship poi to, before it goes beyond-sour.
would love to know where in Europe you are.
I’ve been away from Hawaii for far too long…
Aloha —
I’m in the Midlands, near Birmingham.
I do have some cans of freeze dried poi. They are not dehydrated poi, but proper freeze dried poi. (We took fresh poi, froze it, and shipped by air to Oregon Freeze Dry. They, in turn, freeze dried it.) They were made in late 2001 or early 2002.
The last can we opened, about 18 months ago, was surprisingly fine. Please let me know if you’re interested.
I have shipped poi from Hawaii to the UK before. It is a pain in the okole! We had to prove to the Food Standards Agency that it was “safe,” and that taro had been imported into the EU previously. You can find taro (not poi taro, but dryland taro) at places like Wing Yip, and we learned that the ancient Romans also cultivated taro. Dealing with the Food Standards “cop” while your poi is going sour is no fun.
Perhaps we should form a hui to import Zippy’s goodies, etc.
Mahalo, Craig,for all of this, and the multi-links! A wonderful fix for us expatriates, who long for the Islands sometmes. Your dedication is truly appreciated!
Entirely my pleasure. Thank you.
please i need to buy some taro poi please where can i get it
Do you want to buy some taro? Or some poi made from taro? Where are you located? Have you read the article on this website (and the many comments attached to it) about where you can buy poi?
Aloha, I too have been too long gone from Da Big Island, eh! I have since married and live in Thailand with wife and new born son. My wife recently planted taro on our farm in Loei Province, north eastern Thailand and it was not done properly nor do I think it is the same strain as the taro in Hawaii. I seriously wish to grow taro in abundance and will supervise the planting personally next time, but could you point me in the direction of the same taro as grows in our beloved Hawaii; Id be very grateful.
Mahalo,
Michael Iverson
Siam BioFuels Co Ltd
Loei, Thailand division
i want to buy 2 bag of poi please
Hello Craig.
I am John Thomas’s cousin. If you ever decide to get rid of “The Letter”, I would love to have the chance to keep it in the family. He is missed by his family. It is nice to know others miss him, as well.
Best wishes in all your endeavors.
You should also check out Hanalei Poi.. It’s based out on Kauai.