--- description: The man who invented Hawaiian pizza, setting off one of the biggest debates in food, died on Thursday at the age of 83 title: The Man Who Invented Hawaiian Pizza Has Died image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6aae0455af2c8988/6988d12d196cf44f3504089d/pineapple-pizza-hawaiian-death.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Canada](/tag/canada/) ## Canada Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Man Who Invented Hawaiian Pizza Has Died by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jun 11, 2017 4:58 PM CUT  Homemade Pineapple and Ham Hawaiian Pizza Ready to Eat Homemade Pineapple and Ham Hawaiian Pizza Ready to Eatbhofack2--;Getty Images/iStockphoto by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jun 11, 2017 4:58 PM CUT The man who invented Hawaiian pizza, setting off one of the [biggest debates in food](http://time.com/4691875/pineapple-pizza-poll/ "undefined"), died on Thursday at the age of 83. Sam Panopoulos, who was born in Greece and moved to Canada when he was 20, decided to [try out pineapple on pizza](http://business.time.com/2013/05/18/slices-of-history-great-moments-in-pizza-innovation/slide/1962-the-advent-of-wacky-toppings/ "undefined") in 1962 to attract customers to one of his Ontario-based restaurants. “We just put it on, just for the fun of it, see how it was going to taste,” Panopoulos told the BBC earlier this year. “We were young in the business and we were doing a lot of experiments.” Panopoulos said he and his brothers enjoyed the contrast between the pineapple’s sweetness and the savory flavor of the ham also added to the pizza. They named it Hawaiian pizza after the brand of canned pineapple used on the pie. Adding pineapple on pizza became a [heated topic](http://time.com/4691875/pineapple-pizza-poll/ "undefined") earlier this year after the president of Iceland jokingly denounced the topping, sparking backlash online, a trove of memes and even prompting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to weigh in. “I have a pineapple. I have a pizza. And I stand behind this delicious Southwestern Ontario creation,” he tweeted in February. > [](https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/835225645932216324) An [obituary](http://www.logan-evans.ca/obituaries/116891 "undefined") for Panopoulos described the Hawaiian pizza inventor as an “unforgettable personality,” and commended him for his loyalty, protective nature and sense of humor. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4814056/hawaiian-pizza-pineapple-sam-panopoulos-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4814056/hawaiian-pizza-pineapple-sam-panopoulos-death/"},"headline":"The Man Who Invented Hawaiian Pizza Has Died","datePublished":"2017-06-11T16:58:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:05:52.375Z","description":"His creation set off a heated debate over whether pineapple belongs on pizza","url":"https://time.com/4814056/hawaiian-pizza-pineapple-sam-panopoulos-death/","keywords":["Canada","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6aae0455af2c8988/6988d12d196cf44f3504089d/pineapple-pizza-hawaiian-death.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6aae0455af2c8988/6988d12d196cf44f3504089d/pineapple-pizza-hawaiian-death.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Homemade Pineapple and Ham Hawaiian Pizza","caption":"Homemade Pineapple and Ham Hawaiian Pizza","creditText":"bhofack2--;Getty Images/iStockphoto","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/canada/","name":"Canada"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4814056/hawaiian-pizza-pineapple-sam-panopoulos-death/","name":"The Man Who Invented Hawaiian Pizza Has Died"}}]}] ```