The Associated Press reports via Yahoo News Singapore about a Spam festival in Hawaii. The canned pork is very popular in the Aloha State. If you've never eaten it, think ham-in-a-can.
As the story notes, the Hormel product became popular when the government shipped whole trainloads of Spam to the islands in WW II to feed GIs. A fair amount got traded to the locals who loved it more than the GIs did.
I flag this story to add a personal postscript. Spam is as beloved on Guam as it is in Hawaii, and for the same reasons. Locals called it "typhoon food" as it needs no refrigeration to remain edible and can be eaten straight from the tin without cooking, although it's much tastier fried. Most locals had a stash of Spam and hardtack or ship's biscuit for typhoon-caused power outages that last weeks.
While we lived on Guam, the union representing workers at the Hormel Spam plant in Minnesota called a strike which was reported in Guam's newspaper, the Pacific Daily News. Within twenty-four hours there wasn't a can of Spam on any store shelf on the island.
The Asian voyagers in sea-going double-hulled canoes who settled the Pacific islands were able to bring chickens and pigs with them, and did so. To this day both chicken and pork are popular with islanders. KFC does well.
Carabao and cattle arrived hundreds of years later when larger ships began to ply the waters. Consequently, beef is not a staple for locals, although much eaten by haoles like the DrsC. When we lived on Guam, beef was imported from En Zed, Brit slang for New Zealand.
Later ... one thing that makes Spam popular is that pork, like chicken, maintains its normal cooked taste when canned. Tinned beef doesn't taste like roast beef, not sure why, something to do with food chemistry.
