Hawaii's coffee production grew during the past decade from a low of 1.9 million pounds of green coffee bean to 7.7 million pounds in 1997, with a farm-gate value of $28 million dollars.
Hawaii production graph
Figure 1. Green bean production in million pounds comparing Hawaii county
which is mostly Kona coffee and rest of state from 1990 to 1999.
Hawaii's coffee roasting industry also ranges widely, from home roasters
to "boutique" labels to full-scale industrial roast-and-grind marketers.
The wholesale value of the blended portion of our roasting industry was
valued at $41.5 million in 1998.
The coffees grown include a hybrid of 'Mokka', one of the most primitive landraces from Africa; 'Guatemalan' (also called "Kona typica"), an early 19th century Central American landrace of Coffea arabica "typica"; and some of the most modern semidwarf cultivars from Brazil, including both 'Red Catuai' and 'Yellow Catuai'.
This guide to cultural practices for coffee in Hawaii builds on CTAHR's earlier publications by Y. Baron Goto and Edward T. Fukunaga, written in the 1950s and cited with the references (p. 40). New developments and changes in coffee production technology have occurred both in the traditional "coffee belt" in Kona on the island of Hawaii and in the new coffee-growing sites elsewhere in the state. This manual is designed both to serve the many new coffee farmers who need information and to provide a "sounding board" for discussion of its contents and recommendations, which will aid development of a subsequent edition.
