A bill that would set tighter limits on using Hawaii location names to sell coffee cleared its last state House committee Wednesday, sending it back for a vote on the full house floor before crossing over to the Senate for further consideration.
House Bill 1517, which would require coffee blend labels to disclose geographic and regional origins and percentage by weight of the blended coffees, was passed “as is” unanimously by the House Finance Committee.
The proposed measure, introduced by Rep. Nicole Lowen, D-North Kona, would also prohibit using geographic origins of coffee in labeling or advertising for roasted or instant coffee that contains less than a certain percentage of coffee by weight from that geographic origin, phased in to a minimum of 51%.
It further would disallow use of the term “All Hawaiian” in labeling or advertising for roasted or instant coffee not produced entirely from green coffee beans grown in Hawaii. Funds for the state’s pesticides subsidy program are also tacked on.
Currently, state law allows distributors to use Hawaii names, such as Kona or Ka‘u, on products that include as little as 10% of coffee from the named region.
The majority of testimony given at Wednesday’s hearing supported the bill. Opposition came from the Hawaii Restaurant Association, Hawaii Coffee Company, Hawaii Food Industry Association and Retail Merchants of Hawaii.
Kona coffee farmer Bruce Corker testified the bill is a compromise, noting that for more than 30 years Hawaii has been the only region anywhere in the world to authorize the use of its regional names on labels of an agricultural product with only 10% of the contents from the named region.
“Although Hawaii coffee farmers would prefer 100% requirement for the labeling of our product, HB1517 represents a compromise and an important step toward addressing the consumer fraud and the damage to the economic interests of farmers that has been caused by Hawaii’s 10% coffee blend labeling law,” said Corker.
Chris Manfredi, executive director of the Hawaii Coffee Association, testified that many of the blends are found to be below minimum grade standards for Hawaii-grown coffee. He said Hawaii’s producers are regulated and bound by these minimum grade standards, yet the imported coffee used in these blends is unregulated by Hawaii’s strict minimum grade standards.
“This is unfair and undermines Hawaii’s premium reputation and brands built on high quality,” he said.
Further, Manfredi questioned the wisdom of importing raw, foreign-grown coffee into our coffee growing regions and fragile ecosystems.
“These shipments are, at least, a prime vector for the introduction of invasive species,” he said, pondering the origin of coffee borer beetle and coffee leaf rust.
Speaking in opposition of the bill, Gerard Bastiaanse, president of Hawaii Coffee Company, claimed his company to be the largest coffee roaster, grower and purchaser of Kona Coffee in the state.
“I’m fairly confident we sell more 100% Kona coffee than everyone who supports this bill put together,” he testified. “I’m also confident that everyone who stands against this bill in the industry is supporting ten, 20, 50 100 times more jobs than people supporting this bill. This bill is a job killer.”
He said if the measure is signed into law, it will cut jobs in the industry and could lead to the closure of restaurants.
“This bill is going to hurt a lot of people and businesses,” he said.
The bill next goes to the full House floor for a vote. If passed it will crossover to the Senate for further consideration.
Hawaiian coffee is the state’s second highest value agriculture crop, second to seed crops.
In 2021-22, the value of the 26.7 million pounds of coffee cherry produced was $60.05 million, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service coffee report released Jan. 21.
Green coffee, which is beans that have been milled but not roasted, commanded $21.70 per pound, putting the value of the industry at over $113 million. Post-roast, Kona coffee sells on the Big Island around $40 to $45 per pound.
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, coffee utilized production was up 17% from last season with a forecast of 26.7 million pounds of cherry for the 2021-22 season. Bearing acreage totaled 7,100 acres, up 300 acres from the previous year, with an average yield at 3,820 pounds of cherry per acre, up 310 pounds.
The 2021-22 value was up from $48.38 million in 2020-21 and $54.3 million in 2019-20.
Hawaii remains the largest producer of coffee in the United States. Producers grow coffee in each county of the state that yields distinct flavors of coffee because of variations in climate, cultivation, harvesting and processing.
The 2017 Census of Agriculture, which is conducted every five years, showed the majority of coffee farms were located on the Big Island, though thriving industries have developed on Maui, Kauai and Oahu. Of the estimated 9,300 acres of coffee planted in Hawaii, including bearing and non-bearing acreage, 5,491 acres were located on Hawaii Island. Further, approximately 1,343 of the state’s 1,577 coffee farms were located on the Orchid Isle.
