For many java drinkers, coffee from Hawai‘i means coffee from Kona, a premier source of exceptional specialty coffees for more than a century. But as the sugar industry declined over the past several decades, Hawai‘i’s coffee cultivation spread beyond Kona to eleven other regions on five islands. Among these, a relative newcomer, Ka‘u, is developing a world-class reputation.
After the Ka‘u Sugar Company closed in 1996, more than two-dozen former sugar workers planted coffee farms and subsequently formed the Ka‘u Coffee Growers Cooperative. Today about 35 coffee growers lease lands in Pahala from the Ka‘u Farm and Ranch Company.
In 2006, extension specialist Sabina Swift and extension economist Stuart Nakamoto began working with the Ka‘u coffee growers as part of an outreach program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to aid underserved immigrant farmers in Hawai‘I County, including former sugar workers growing papayas in Puna and vegetables in Waialua. In addition to helping individual growers, Swift and Nakamoto present workshops on integrated pest management, crop production, marketing, farm finance, and food safety that bring farmers together with CTAHR extension specialists, county agents, and doctoral students as well as representatives from the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture and federal agencies. Recently, they helped growers affected by volcanic smog (vog) apply for disaster assistance.
The Ka‘u growers’ commitment to mastering coffee production has yielded remarkable results. At the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s 2007 cupping competition, William Tabios (Will & Grace Farms) and Marlon Biason (Aroma Farms) placed 6th and 9th, respectively, out of 104 international entries. Swift and Nakamoto’s USDA grant helped fund the growers’ participation in the contest. Also in 2007, Lorie Obra’s Ka‘u-grown "Rusty’s" coffee bested six Kona coffees at a cupping workshop in Kona. And at the 2008 SCAA cupping competition, Manuel Marques’ "Ka‘u Forest" took 11th place, edging out a 12th-place Kona entry. Congratulations, Ka‘u growers—Hawai‘i can now boast two of the world’s top coffee regions!
