What Makes Authentic Kona Coffee Beans and Where to Buy Them

Introduction to Hawaii Coffee Truth-in-Labeling

Here is a set of questions and answers about Hawaii's Truth-in-Labeling law, and how the industry took responsibility for both producers and consumers.

Passing off imported beans as locally grown ones had already happened in Hawaii. After that incident, some serious soul-searching led to the passage of a highly self-regulated Truth-in-Labeling law.

Q&A on Truth-in-Labeling

Q: Why is Truth-in-Labeling important to the Hawaii coffee industry?

A: Most coffee beans roasted and sold in Hawaii, even when they carry Hawaii's identification, are actually 10% blends: only 10% Hawaii coffee beans mixed with 90% imported beans. The general public cannot tell. In their minds, these really are Hawaii coffee beans, even though nine out of every ten are not. The labeling lets roasters mark blended coffee clearly and distinguish between products with 30% or 50% Hawaii beans and those with only 10%.

Q: What benefits does it bring to the Hawaii coffee industry?

A: The Hawaii Coffee Association believes the new labeling requirement has potential benefits for Hawaii coffee production, raising the share of genuine Hawaii coffee in the products sold.

Q: What benefits does it bring to consumers?

A: The benefits to consumers are clear. First, it helps them better understand what they are buying, and second, it gives them the ability to tell a blend from a 100% coffee. The Truth-in-Labeling requirements mean product labels must let consumers clearly distinguish blends of Hawaii and foreign beans from 100% Hawaii beans. The HCA (Hawaii Coffee Association) believes this will raise the proportion of Hawaii coffee beans in high-quality blends.

Q: What is the necessity of this new law? What is HCA's role?

A: Responding to complaints from the Japanese coffee industry about adulteration in Hawaii coffee beans, the Hawaii Coffee Association (HCA) organized a strategic development committee to draft this blended-coffee labeling law. The committee brought together farmers, processors, roasters, and retailers from across the state. The University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources assisted the committee, which met continuously over several months and finally reached unanimous agreement on a new direction to recommend to the Hawaii Legislature.

Once the legal provisions were drafted, the committee spent a year presenting them to the coffee industry within the state.

HCA formally presented the proposal at its 2001 conference and held multiple meetings with industry organizations including The Kona Coffee Council, the Kona Farmers Alliance, the Hawaii Farm Bureau, and the Kona Pacific Farmers Cooperative. These organizations raised possible impacts, which led to further amendments to the provisions.

Q: Who supports it and who opposes it?

A: During the 2002 Hawaii legislative session, the bill was introduced as part of the Farm Bureau package. The Farm Bureau supported HCA's petition to follow legislative procedure. There was no opposition from any of the eight committees, and the bill (SB2169) was presented to the Governor for signature in April 2002.

Q: Why not simply amend the law to require increasing the ratio of Hawaii coffee beans in blends?

A: Frankly, HCA started by doing exactly that, but found that its members disagreed on whether the minimum should be 10%, 33%, or 50%. We then looked for common ground, something both agreeable and beneficial to the public, and found it in truth-in-labeling: clearly telling consumers what they are buying. Truth-in-labeling is a concept with very little controversy.

Q: Does the new law require a minimum percentage of Hawaii coffee beans in Hawaii blends?

A: Yes, but only for blends using Kona coffee. Like the current law, it requires at least 10% Kona coffee beans. There is no requirement for coffee beans from other Hawaii regions.

Q: How does the new law affect current producers of Hawaii regional coffee products?

A: If you produce a coffee label, some changes must be made to your product label.

For those who blend foreign beans with Hawaii-grown coffee, the actual percentage of Hawaii coffee beans must appear on the front label in the same font size as the Hawaii origin. For example, what is currently labeled "Kona Blend" must be changed to "__% Kona Blend." The old requirement to note "Contains not less than 10% Kona Coffee" has been removed by the new law.

For producers of 100% Hawaii products, the term "100%" must appear on the front label in the same font size as the Hawaii origin.

Q: Must coffee producers discard existing labels when the new law takes effect?

A: No. The new law gives producers a one-year grace period to keep using current labels.

Q: How can the public find information about this new law?

A: The Hawaii Coffee Association will post the new law on its website at www.hawaiicoffeeassoc.org. Anyone producing labels should notify Diane Yamamoto at the Department of Agriculture's Quality Assurance Division at (808) 973-9563.

Q: Why do you mention Hawaii coffee more than Kona coffee?

A: HCA refers to all coffee produced in Hawaii, not just Kona coffee, so in our discussions we tend to say Hawaii coffee. When we mention Hawaii coffee, we mean the recognized Hawaii origins, including Kona, Kauai, Molokai, Oahu, and Maui. To be called Hawaii origin, a product must contain 100% Hawaii coffee beans, whether from a single island or a combination of different islands.

Q: What is HCA?

A: The Hawaii Coffee Association represents every part of the Hawaii coffee industry. Our leadership and members include coffee growers, roasters, wholesalers and retailers, coffee researchers, and representatives from other coffee associations. The mission of the Hawaii Coffee Association is to promote the consumption of coffee produced in Hawaii through education and by informing sellers and consumers.

Our website: www.hawaiicoffeeassoc.org

HCA is a recognized industry umbrella organization under the Hawaii State Department of Agriculture. We are leaders of representative organizations including the Kona Coffee Council, the Kona Farmers Alliance, and the Hawaii Coffee Growers Association. We collaborate on coffee research with the Hawaii Agricultural Research Center and the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. For the past two years, however, we have focused on market and education integration, and we have found that Truth-in-Labeling is an effective method that aligns with both.

Related Topics

Q: Why is Kona coffee so expensive?

A: For the past 150 years, the coffee industry in the Kona region has gradually developed from small farms averaging 3-5 acres, and their products are primarily hand-picked. Compared with other coffee-producing countries, their prices are naturally much higher. Yet Kona's famous "coffee belt," at an elevation of 1000 to 2500 feet, offers the perfect coffee-growing environment and has produced the world's highest-quality coffee for 150 years.

Because the yield per unit area is limited and market recognition has built up over many years, people have always been willing to pay higher prices for Kona coffee.

Q: How to distinguish coffee from different islands and Kona Island?

A: We live in Hawaii and appreciate the characteristics and flavors of coffee from different islands. We have prepared new Hawaii Coffee Association brochures that introduce the quality of coffee from each island, and we also provide experienced experts in each region as coffee interpreters.

FrontStreet Coffee: a Guangzhou-based roastery with a small shop but a diverse range of bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online store services.

Related recommendations: Introduction to Hawaii Kona coffee, How to brew Hawaii Kona coffee

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The whole point of Hawaii's Truth-in-Labeling law is that a label should tell you exactly what you are buying. That same principle of transparency is a good filter when you shop for beans anywhere. FrontStreet coffee is roasted and shipped within five days of the roast date, so what reaches you is still at full flavor. A good example of certifiable provenance is FrontStreet's PWN Indonesian Golden Mandheling: deep-roasted, very low in acidity, thick and lingering, and loaded with herbal and dark-chocolate notes plus a faint earthy edge, with the PWN sacks and accompanying certificates shown right alongside the beans so there is no doubt about authenticity.

If you prefer a blend you can use every day, FrontStreet's Premium Blend pairs washed Colombian and semi-washed Brazilian beans for a nutty, dark-chocolate, caramel cup with a comfortable bittersweet balance and a smooth, latte-friendly texture. FrontStreet Coffee's Commercial Blend adds a touch of Robusta for a wilder body and notes of toast, almond, and walnut, while the Classic Blend and the fruit-forward Strawberry Candy espresso blend round out a lineup built for beginners and cafés alike. Wherever you buy, look for the same clarity you would demand of a Kona label: know the origin, know the percentage, and know the roast.