Ka‘u celebrates coffee

By CHELSEA JENSEN

Stephens Media

The Ka‘u coffee industry, which sprouted from fields left untended when the area’s sugar plantations faltered nearly two decades ago, is providing opportunities for residents in the south Hawaii district.

With about 50 coffee farms annually working 500 acres and churning out a roasted crop conservatively valued at $9.8 million, Ka‘u has made its mark on the world coffee industry while positively impacting the rural area, said Chris Manfredi, Ka‘u Farm and Ranch Co. manager and Ka‘u Coffee Festival organizer, which was held Saturday in Pahala.

The estimate is based on coffee selling at $25 per pound. However, Ka‘u coffee, depending on grade, ranges in price from $20 to $80 a pound. He added the prices are about double what farmers received three years ago.

“It’s brought a sense of renewal, pride and interest in Ka‘u both within and outside the area,” he said. “It’s improved life for residents, but it’s not changing Ka‘u.”

To celebrate the area’s coffee, hundreds of residents and visitors braved the rain Saturday at the Pahala Community Center for the fourth annual Ka‘u Coffee Festival. The event, which spanned two weekends this year, was first held in 2009 as a way to showcase the area’s coffee, which annually earns high honors at coffee shows and competitions.

Three Ka‘u coffee producers — out of 10 coffee producers to be awarded worldwide — this year received Specialty Coffee Association of America’s Roaster’s Guild Coffees of the Year awards.

Ka‘u’s Willie and Grace Tabios, of The Rising Sun farm, took sixth in the world and first in the U.S.; Francis and Trinidad Marques’ Alii Hawaiian Hula Hands Coffee placed ninth in the world and Lori Obra’s Rusty’s Hawaiian placed 10th during the association’s annual event held in April in Portland, Ore.

The Hawaii Coffee Association, which will hold its annual cupping competition in July on Maui, awarded Rusty’s Hawaiian with the grand champion award in 2011.

Willie Tobias, whose 7-acre farm sits at the 1,900-foot elevation above Pahala, said he was very happy Ka‘u coffee earned so many awards this year. Whether his farm or another farm earns top honors, Tobias emphasized that, in the end, it’s about benefiting all farmers in the area.

“Any exposure we can get will make Ka‘u coffee bigger and bigger,” he said, adding that growing the coffee industry could translate to more jobs and opportunities. “We work hard on this coffee and people (worldwide) now know the word ‘Ka‘u.’”

Confirming Ka‘u coffees growing presence outside Hawaii, Hilo resident Castro Wendell said while traveling with Ka‘u’s youth Southside Volleyball Club to a 2011 national competition in Minneapolis, the specialty coffee was on display.

“Twenty feet from the hotel, right in the middle of Minneapolis, a coffee shop had exclusive Ka‘u coffee,” he said while sampling Rusty’s Hawaiian coffee. “It was a real big surprise. But, it’s up there.”

First introduced to the area in 1894, coffee did not reach large scale production in Ka‘u until after the end of the sugar plantation era ended in 1996, said Manfredi.

“Coffee was grown in Ka‘u, but with sugar as a crop to compete with, it never took hold — every square foot of arable land was used for sugar, and where there wasn’t deep soil there was cattle,” he explained. “But, when the sugar went down, coffee came right back.”

Today, farmers produce coffee, which they either sell as cherry or roast and sell themselves, in an area spanning roughly from Ocean View to Pahala.

“It’s diversified the area’s economy,” said Wendell, who commended the resourcefulness of the Ka‘u residents who spawned a niche market in the wake of the downfall of the sugar industry. “It’s created jobs, even for the kids to keep them away from drugs, and it’s turning the community around.”

Email Chelsea Jensen at cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com.