Tag Archive for 'Coffee'

Know Your Land and Eat It Too

Published on August 25, 2011 in Ag Tourism, Cacao, Coffee, General Ag News and Notes and Taro.


IN YOUR FRIDGE / Farmers’ market managers, Pamela Boyer and Annie Suite have joined hands with local farmers to create Oahu Agri-Tours. There’s no fancy farmhouse or massive farm machinery; what you see is what you get. You’ll experience first-hand how farmers are committed to practicing clean, organic farming.

Poamoho Farms is one of the farms on tour, and guests learn how the fruit orchard uses natural pest management and fertilization methods. Tin Roof Ranch farmers Luann Casey and Gary Gunder butcher their chickens the day before selling them at the market.

Na Mea Kupono wetland taro farm practices old school taro farming methods that most locals don’t even know about. Here you can also watch a traditional poi-pounding demonstration.

At Mohala Farms you’ll see how simple and natural farming is still possible (and still exists). Continue reading ‘Know Your Land and Eat It Too’

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Kona growers take on national chain

Published on August 11, 2011 in Coffee and General Ag News and Notes.


HONOLULU – Hawaii farmer Paul Uster was on vacation in California when he saw a package of Kona coffee blend in a supermarket that he knew would upset fellow growers back home on the Big Island.

The Safeway brand of Kona blend medium roast coffee didn’t specify what percentage was made from the world-famous bean or whether it was grown in Hawaii – information a law in the Aloha State requires for labels on Hawaii-grown coffee. That law is meant to inform consumers but also protect the integrity of Hawaii’s premier coffee grown on slopes of volcanic rock.

“It degrades the reputation and the quality of Kona coffee. When consumers are not informed it makes it harder for me to make a living,” said Uster, who owns Mokulele Farms and is on the board of directors of the Kona Coffee Farmers Association. “Kona and other Hawaiian coffees are a great treasure to the state.”

Hawaii is the only place in the United States where coffee is grown. Beans grown in the Kau district of the Big Island are also gaining popularity among discerning coffee aficionados.

Safeway’s blend was priced at $8.99 a pound, Uster said, while 8 ounces of pure Kona coffee can sell for $25. Continue reading ‘Kona growers take on national chain’

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Island brews

Published on July 13, 2011 in Coffee and General Ag News and Notes.


Hawaii’s no different from any other place in the country when it comes to coffee lovers: Step into any Starbucks and you’ll see — we’ve got lots of ‘em. And yet, we’re not like everywhere else because we’re the only state in the nation that grows coffee.

Viewed from that perspective, those long lines at chain coffee bars with their non-Hawaii coffees seem nonsensical. Shouldn’t Hawaii people be drinking Hawaii coffee?

Thankfully, a host of venues in Hawaii do offer locally grown coffees.

But there’s a new shop, just 4 months old, that is taking Hawaii coffee to a whole new level on Oahu.

Beach Bum Café, run by owner Dennis McQuoid out of a storefront in the Executive Centre on Bishop Street, is cutting-edge in what it offers: a selection of 100 percent Hawaii coffees and a choice of five brewing methods.

He calls his place a “microbrew” coffee house, meaning he grinds beans upon order and brews one cup at a time. This ensures the freshest cup possible.

McQuoid offers eight single-estate coffees at any given time, and he keeps just a two-week supply to ensure freshness.

McQuoid also offers a generous helping of customer service. He starts by helping patrons make selections based on their preferences. Continue reading ‘Island brews’

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Coffee drinking may cut prostate cancer risk

Published on May 17, 2011 in Coffee and General Ag News and Notes.


In case you needed one, here’s another possible reason to have that cup of coffee in the morning: Men who regularly drink coffee appear to be less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, especially the most lethal kind, according to new research.

Lorelei Mucci of the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues analyzed data collected from 47,911 U.S. men who participated in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, a large, ongoing examination of a variety of health issues for men. As part of the study, the men reported their coffee consumption every four years between 1986 and 2008. During that period, 5,035 cases of prostate cancer were reported, including 642 fatal cases.

The men who consumed the most coffee, which was defined as six or more cups every day, were nearly 20 percent less likely to develop any form of prostate cancer, the researchers reported in the May 17 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

But, most strikingly, the heavy coffee drinkers were also 60 percent less likely to be diagnosed with a lethal prostate tumor. Those who drank between one and three cups a day were 30 percent less likely to develop a lethal case.

The risk was cut regardless of whether the men drank decaffeinated or regular coffee, the researchers reported. Continue reading ‘Coffee drinking may cut prostate cancer risk’

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State officials report first infestation of coffee berry borer in Kau

Published on May 12, 2011 in Coffee and General Ag News and Notes.


The first infestation of the coffee berry borer in the Kau district of the Big Island has been detected at a farm in Pahala, state agricultural officials announced today.

Infestations of the beetle, which threaten Hawaii’s $27 million coffee-growing industry, have been concentrated in West Hawaii.

The coffee berry borer, a small beetle native to Central Africa, bores into coffee beans and lays its eggs, its larvae feeding inside the bean.

State officials said they’re still assessing the extent of the infestation in Pahala and that farmers in the region are asked to inspect their fields and report any suspected coffee berry borers.

The state in February approved the use of the fungus Beauveria bassiana to control the spread of the coffee berry borer.

State officials report first infestation of coffee berry borer in Kau – Hawaii News – Staradvertiser.com

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Big Isle coffee farm wins international honors

Published on May 8, 2011 in Coffee and General Ag News and Notes.


A Big Island coffee farm is among 10 in the world to win the distinction of “Coffees of the Year.”

Kailiawa Farm was the only coffee producer in the nation to get that title from the Specialty Coffee Association of America and Roasters Guild competition in Houston, West Hawaii Today reported Friday.

The farm is on the Big Island’s southern tip known as the Kau district, which in recent years has been gaining recognition among coffee aficionados. Coffee in neighboring Kona has long been well-known.

Bull Kailiawa of Pahala told the newspaper he believes his family farm’s location in an area called “Cloud Rest” is key to producing quality coffee.

“The rain plays a big part,” he said. “It brings energy and we’re thankful for being on that belt line.”

This is the second time the farm received the honor. Continue reading ‘Big Isle coffee farm wins international honors’

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6 isle farms sued for labor practices

Published on April 21, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes.


Federal authorities have filed a civil lawsuit accusing six Hawaii farms of “unlawful employment practices” in association with federally indicted farm labor contractor Global Horizons Manpower Inc.

Global Horizons’ owner and employees are already facing several forced labor criminal charges in what’s been called the most sweeping labor prosecution in U.S. history, but no farms were implicated in the crimes.

However, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleges that supervisors from the six island farms and two others in Washington state were “engaged in, and more importantly knew of, or should have known that this was going on, and took no action to remedy it.”

The Hawaii farms are Captain Cook Coffee Co., Del Monte Fresh Produce, Kauai Coffee Co. Inc., Kelena Farms Inc., Mac Farms of Hawaii LLC and Maui Pineapple Co. The lawsuits were filed Tuesday in Hawaii and Washington.

Global Horizons is also named in the lawsuit. In Washington state, the two farms charged are Green Acre Farms and Valley Fruit Orchards.

Aloun Farms, named in the federal indictment against Global Horizons, was not implicated in the EEOC lawsuit. Aloun Farms owners Alec and Mike Sou still face separate federal forced labor charges in a case unrelated to Global Horizons. Continue reading ‘6 isle farms sued for labor practices’

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Feds say firm abused Thai farm workers in Hawaii, Washington

Published on April 20, 2011 in Coffee, General Ag News and Notes, Macadamia Nuts and Pineapple.


The U.S. Employment Opportunity Commission announced today that it filed lawsuits in Hawaii and Washington state against Global Horizons Inc., a Beverly Hills-based farm labor contractor, and eight farms, including six in Hawaii.

The agency said Global Horizons brought more than 200 men from Thailand to work on farms in Hawaii and Washington, where they were subjected to severe abuse.

The EEOC contends that Global Horizons engaged in a pattern or practice of national origin and race discrimination, harassment and retaliation. Hundreds of additional potential claimants and witnesses are expected, the EEOC said.

The agency said the Thai workers were assigned to work at these farms in Hawaii: Captain Cook Coffee Company, Del Monte Fresh Produce, Kauai Coffee Company, Kelena Farms, MacFarms of Hawaii and Maui Pineapple Farms.

The Washington state farms named in the lawsuits are Green Acre Farms and Valley Fruit Orchards.

The lawsuit follows criminal charges brought against Global Horizons last year. The U.S. government in September indicted Global Horizons owner Mordechai Yosef Orian and others with exploiting about 400 Thai workers in forced-labor conditions from May 2004 to September 2005. Continue reading ‘Feds say firm abused Thai farm workers in Hawaii, Washington’

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Beetle threatening Kona coffee crops

Published on April 2, 2011 in Coffee and General Ag News and Notes.


KAILUA-KONA – A beetle smaller than a sesame seed is boring its way into Kona coffee beans and threatening the nation’s only coffee-growing region’s premier crop.

More than 600 farmers in North Kona and South Kona, on the west side of the Big Island, are preparing to coat their fields with a suffocating fungus and are taking other measures to save their livelihoods and protect the world famous Kona coffee brand. While they’re confident they can limit the damage, they acknowledge they face a long fight against a beetle that will almost certainly reduce harvests and force costly chemical treatments and other work.

”It definitely has made growing Kona coffee more challenging,” said Tommy Greenwell, owner of Greenwell Farms. ”Once the beetle bores into the coffee cherry, it digs out a home and lays its eggs. That bean is no longer useable in coffee products. ”

The beetle, a bug known as Hypothenemus hampei that is native to Africa, was formally identified in Hawaii in September, but farmers have reported spotting it for two years. No one knows how it arrived in Hawaii, but growers said they’re not surprised because it’s seen in other coffee-growing regions throughout the world.

”There are 101 theories about how it got here. All we know is it got here from another country and it’s a very, very good hitchhiker Continue reading ‘Beetle threatening Kona coffee crops’

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Stock buy foments talk of local firm’s breakup

Published on April 1, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Sugar Cane.


One of Hawaii’s last venerable Big Five companies, Alexander & Baldwin Inc., could be under pressure to break itself up.

A New York hedge fund manager known to agitate for change in his investment targets bought nearly 10 percent of A&B along with a partner, it was announced yesterday. The purchase triggered expectations the 141-year-old kamaaina company will be split into pieces to elevate stock value.

Neither A&B nor the hedge funds would disclose what the intent of the A&B stock purchase — a $168 million deal — might be yesterday.

“We expect to have a constructive dialogue with them as we do with all of our shareholders,” said Suzy Hollinger, A&B’s director of investor relations.

But stock analysts with insights to A&B and people with ties to the 2,300-employee company say the play almost certainly is a breakup of the conglomerate’s three core businesses — ocean cargo transportation, commercial real estate and agriculture.

“Are the parts worth more than the whole? That’s what this comes down to,” said local stock analyst Randy Havre, echoing views of two other analysts who closely follow A&B. Continue reading ‘Stock buy foments talk of local firm’s breakup’

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A Bird That Likes Shade-Grown Coffee

Published on March 10, 2011 in Coffee, General Ag News and Notes and Globel Warming.


I wrote in Thursday’s paper about the challenges that Colombian coffee growers face from climate shifts on their mountaintop farms, and how Cenicafé, the national coffee institute, is doing research to breed coffee plants to better resist warmer, wetter weather.

Most everything at Cenicafé’s lush mountain campus in western Colombia is coffee-centric. There are chemists who analyze the brew’s chemical content to understand what mix of molecules makes for great flavor. There are gardens filled with coffee plants from all over the world for breeding new heartier variants. There are geneticists studying the coffee genome.

But Cenicafé scientists are also studying a little bright blue bird whose plight has gained widespread attention in the United States: the cerulean warbler.

The cerulean warbler is on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s “red list” of threatened species. Once plentiful in the United States, its population is decreasing faster than that of any other eastern songbird.

A big part of the problem is that much of the cerulean warbler’s breeding ground in states like West Virginia and Tennessee has been destroyed by forest-felling and mountaintop coal mining. Conservation groups are fighting to save the species, and its plight features prominently in Jonathan Franzen’s latest novel, “Freedom.”

So what does this have to do with Colombian coffee? It turns out that the cerulean warbler winters in Colombia and other countries in the northern part of South America. And it seems to prefer the forest canopy of its mountain coffee-growing regions.

So scientists are working to better understand the warbler’s winter habitat, and to make sure it is preserved. Continue reading ‘A Bird That Likes Shade-Grown Coffee’

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Heat Hampers Colombian Coffee Crop, Jeopardizing Supply

Published on March 9, 2011 in Coffee, General Ag News and Notes and Globel Warming.


TIMBÍO, Colombia — Like most of the small landowners in Colombia’s lush mountainous Cauca region, Luis Garzón, 80, and his family have thrived for decades by supplying shade-grown, rainforest-friendly Arabica coffee for top foreign brands like Nespresso and Green Mountain. A sign in the center of a nearby town proclaims, “The coffee of Cauca is No. 1!”

But in the last few years, coffee yields have plummeted here and in many of Latin America’s other premier coffee regions as a result of rising temperatures and more intense and unpredictable rains, phenomena that many scientists link partly to global warming.

Coffee plants require the right mix of temperature, rainfall and spells of dryness for beans to ripen properly and maintain their taste. Coffee pests thrive in the warmer, wetter weather.

Bean production at the Garzóns’ farm is therefore down 70 percent from five years ago, leaving the family little money for clothing for toddlers and “thinking twice” about sending older children to college, said Mr. Garzon’s 44-year-old son, Albeiro, interviewed in a yellow stucco house decorated with coffee posters and madonnas.

The shortage of high-end Arabica coffee beans is also being felt in New York supermarkets and Paris cafes, as customers blink at escalating prices. Purveyors fear that the Arabica coffee supply from Colombia may never rebound — that the world might, in effect, hit “peak coffee.” Continue reading ‘Heat Hampers Colombian Coffee Crop, Jeopardizing Supply’

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Zip into the future

Published on November 28, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Sugar Cane.


Mike Atherton’s employees call him “Coach” for good reason. Since he bought Maui Tropical Plantation in 2006, the affable entrepreneur has been overseeing a comprehensive game plan to re-energize the 26-year-old attraction.

“We’ve painted the buildings, pruned the trees, spruced up the landscaping, basically given the grounds a complete makeover,” Atherton said. “I’m an outdoors, hands-on guy; I get as dirty as my gardeners do, and I love it!”

A native of Stockton, Calif., Atherton comes from a distinguished family. His maternal great-grandfather was Benjamin Holt, founder of the Caterpillar equipment company. His paternal great-grandfather, the Rev. Isaac Warren Atherton, was a missionary in the Hawi-North Kohala area of the Big Island from 1878 to 1880. His paternal grandfather, Warren Atherton, was an attorney, judge and politician who’s best known for authoring the G.I. Bill.

Atherton and two partners have owned and operated Jesus Mountain Coffee Co. in Nicaragua for 30 years. They acquired the Coffees of Hawaii plantation on Molokai in 2002, and Atherton came to Maui three years later, seeking land to start a similar venture there.

“At the time, C. Brewer & Co. was shutting down and selling all its assets, including Maui Tropical Plantation,” Atherton recalled. “The plantation was an agri-tourism attraction that had been open since 1984, so it had a lot of established growth. It also had a big parking lot, a store, a restaurant, dedicated employees and a good reputation. It was perfect; it just needed some tender loving care.”

Armed with enthusiasm and fresh ideas, Atherton and his hui bought the 60-acre plantation and the surrounding 1,940 acres. Continue reading ‘Zip into the future’

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Culinary Crumbs: Hawaiian Adventures Part 1: Maui

Published on November 24, 2010 in Ag Tourism and General Ag News and Notes.

Hawaiian Adventures Part 1: Maui

I had previously promised to share my stories and experiences from Hawaii, and now that I’ve been back at home in Texas for nearly 6 weeks, I think I’m ready to do just that. Any sooner would have been too painful for me. You see, my brief time (just under three weeks) spent in Hawaii opened up a new realm of self to me. I got to ooh and ahh over breathtaking scenery and experience deep gratitude and appreciation for this earth and everything God has put in it unlike I ever have before. I got to revel in my surroundings and listen to my inner thoughts. All the while sipping a mai tai of course. It was exactly the vacation that I needed- plenty of solitude and relaxation mixed with gluttony and adventure.

My Hawaiian vacation consisted of two legs: a week spent in Maui and a week (which “accidentally” turned into 11 days- we’ll get to that later) on the Big Island. I’m lucky enough to have a grandmother who lives in Wailuku, Maui, but unlucky enough to have only been to visit her once when I was 16. I decided that I was indeed due for a visit. She graciously showed me around her beautiful island and introduced me to my favorite town in Maui- Paia, which is a charming surfer’s village with this hippie-esque vibe that I found completely groovy. I spent a few days wandering around Kihei, Lahaina and Kaanapali Beach lounging, sunbathing, reading, eating, people watching. I like the down time every now and then where I can just sit and absorb what’s going on around me. However, I like the thrill of adventure just as much. And I feel like my time is better spent sharing the details of that part of my trip as compared to talking about how many times I flipped from my stomach to my back trying to maintain an even tan. Continue reading ‘Culinary Crumbs: Hawaiian Adventures Part 1: Maui’

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State approves quarantine zones to stop spread of coffee berry borer on Big Island

Published on November 23, 2010 in Coffee, General Ag News and Notes and quarantine.


An emergency interim rule creating two quarantine zones to halt the spread of the coffee berry borer on and off the Big Island is expected to take effect in a few days.

The state Board of Agriculture today passed the rule halting the shipment of unroasted coffee berries, coffee plants and related bags off the Big Island, unless properly treated to kill the alien beetle and its larvae.

Contaminated coffee farm areas from Kaloko in South Kona to Manuka State Park in Kau also are barred from taking unroasted coffee berries, coffee plants, and related bags to areas on the Big Island that are still free of the coffee berry borer.

The quarantine rule will go into effect when it is published in newspapers in a few days and can remain in effect for a year, the state said.

State approves quarantine zones to stop spread of coffee berry borer on Big Island – Hawaii News – Staradvertiser.com

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Editorial – A time for … turkey trivia : Viewpoints – Tampa Bay Newspapers

Published on November 23, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Turkey.

Just in case you wanted to know, here’s some Thanksgiving trivia for you to chew on as you enjoy the holiday with family and friends.

• The National Turkey Federation says that 87 percent of Americans eat turkey at Thanksgiving whether it’s coffee rubbed turkey from Hawaii, barbecued turkey, cajun fried turkey or – say it isn’t so – in a television frozen dinner. Continue reading ‘Editorial – A time for … turkey trivia : Viewpoints – Tampa Bay Newspapers’

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