I eat Spam on occasion, but a luxury item ?

A black market on Spam is booming in such a way that store owners in Hawaii are locking their canned meats behind bars.

Spam — which is especially popular in Hawaii — is now being treated like a luxury item as people keep stealing cans of the cooked meat by the caseload from shops all over the islands.

In Honolulu, police are offering a $1,000 reward for a man who entered a store earlier this month and grabbed a case of Spam. The suspect (and an apparent accomplice) punched a security guard who tried to stop him, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

Similar thefts have been popping up elsewhere.

In the Pearl City section of Oahu, a suspect grabbed eight cases of Spam and dashed out of a supermarket at full speed.

“That’s when I thought, ‘OK, this isn’t real. No, he’s not going to take it, no, no,” customer Arlene Sua told KHON. “Next thing I knew once he passed the register, that’s when I heard the intercom [call] management to the front and it was really fast.”

Tina Yamaki, president of the Retail Merchants of Hawaii, told the Washington Post that the thieves are probably targeting Spam to sell it on the black market to make a quick cash.

“We’ve heard they work through middlemen. We’ve heard that they’re selling if from the back of their cars,” she said. “We’ve heard all kinds of rumors. Whether they’re true or not, I’m not sure.”

Now, businesses are putting the product in plastic cases under lock and key — right next to high-tech products like phones and cameras.

The string of thefts is reminiscent of quick-cash schemes in Southern California in 2013, when police said drug users were stealing Tide detergent to sell or trade for marijuana or crack cocaine.

Similarly, in New Zealand, honey was being considered as liquid gold by organized crime groups that were stealing and trading lucrative beehives on the black market. Not surprisingly, these honey thefts coincided with the rise in the honey industry’s skyrocketing prices.

http://www.foxnews.com/food-dr...to-hide-product.html

That does it. I am having Spam and Eggs for breakfast in the morning. Always enjoyed breakfast in Hawaii.

Spam used to be worth its weight in gold in Korea

Hope the bastards don't burgle my supply of outdated spam at the ranch house.

Not for me. I ate too much of that crap in the Navy. They called it 'Mid-Rats’, I called it something else.

I could believe it. My only trip to Hawaii was 17 years ago and while in the Hilo Walmart I saw an entire aisle devoted to spam and spam products. Including types of spam I did not know existed.I have never seen such a thing on the mainland. The locals on the islands must truly love that stuff.

Just got back from a few days in Hilo on the Big Island and Lahaina on Maui. SPAM everywhere. Brought back some SPAM flavored Mona Loa macadamias as a gag gift for my BIL. Hell, they even have this sushi roll thing. Seaweed wrapper, sushi rice, and SPAM in the middle. Saw that one for sale at a gas station.

This news report does not surprise me.

-Rob

mbinkys not vacationing in Hawaii is he

Never, ever trust gas station sushi.

Years ago I was in Honolulu for official business; SPAM everywhere. Stopped in at a buffet for dinner one night...lots of entrees were SPAM (SPAM fried rice, SPAM musabi), and the tourists from Japan were scarfing it up like there was no tomorrow. It's very expensive in much of Asia, according to one host, and a delicacy.

The rumors of caves around Oahu filled with SPAM for civil preparedness I was told was only rumors..

i love spam




Link to original video: https://youtu.be/M_eYSuPKP3Y

Apparently Spam has the popularity of baloney and peanut butter & jelly combined in Hawaii. I had no idea until a friend at work who grew up there explained it to me.

They sell very expensive fancy gift wrapped packages of Spam in Japan where it’s apparently considered a rare delicacy.

Was just in Kona a months ago. Walmart and safeway each had more than you can imagine.

I gotta say, if you live in the US and find yourself buying spam on the black market, somewhere along the way your life took a horribly wrong turn.

I love the stuff. So much so, that not only do I keep a couple dozen cans in my SHTF pantry, but I like to make my own. Started a thread with the recipe awhile back but it appears to have been pruned.

quote:

Originally posted by rusbro:
I gotta say, if you live in the US and find yourself buying spam on the black market, somewhere along the way your life took a horrible wrong turn.

Got to agree with you there, not sure why there'd be any kind of need to turn to black market SPAM. What's next? Are we are going to be inundated with knock off Chinese SPAM?

I'll stick to my Ribeyes, you guys can have all the SPAM you want.

An island paradise surrounded by seafood. And then Spam?

Seriously, I just don't get it. And obviously this is not about median income levels. Spam is desired. I don't get it.

Back roads of Ethiopia or something. Okay, I'd get it. Hawaii?

Mmmmmmmmm

quote:

Hell, they even have this sushi roll thing. Seaweed wrapper, sushi rice, and SPAM in the middle. Saw that one for sale at a gas station.

Spam musubi. Not really sushi. And sure, they have lots of seafood available. But wouldn't you get tired of it after a while?