Nav: Home > Coffee >

What Makes Authentic Kona Coffee Beans and Where to Buy Them

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account cafe_style). Introduction to Authentic Hawaiian Coffee Labeling. Q&A about Hawaiian coffee labeling methods, let's see how they take responsibility for producers and consumers. The incident of mixing imported beans with local beans has already happened in Hawaii. After the incident, their ability to reflect

Introduction to Hawaii Coffee Truth-in-Labeling

Questions and Answers about Hawaii's Truth-in-Labeling, let's see how they take responsibility for both producers and consumers.

The incident of passing off imported beans as locally grown beans had already occurred in Hawaii. After this incident, their reflection led to the passage of a highly self-regulated "Truth-in-Labeling" law.

Q&A on Truth-in-Labeling

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

A: Most coffee beans roasted and sold in Hawaii, although carrying Hawaii's identification, are actually 10% blends (only 10% Hawaii coffee beans, mixed with 90% imported coffee beans). The general public cannot understand this. Cognitively, these are indeed Hawaii coffee beans (although nine out of every ten beans are not Hawaii coffee beans). The labeling allows roasters to clearly mark blended coffee beans (distinguishing between those with 30% or 50% Hawaii beans versus only 10%).

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

A: The Hawaii Coffee Association believes this new labeling requirement has potential benefits for Hawaii coffee production, increasing the percentage of Hawaii coffee products.

Q: What benefits does it bring to consumers?

A: The benefits to consumers are clear: first, it helps them better understand what they're buying, and second, it provides them with the ability to distinguish between blended and 100% coffee beans. The "Truth-in-Labeling" requirements for product labeling must enable consumers to clearly distinguish between blends of Hawaii and foreign beans versus 100% Hawaii beans. HCA (Hawaii Coffee Association) believes this will help increase the ratio of Hawaii coffee beans in high-quality blends.

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

A: The Hawaii Coffee Association (HCA), in response to complaints from the Japanese coffee industry about adulteration in Hawaii coffee beans, organized a strategic development committee to draft this blended coffee labeling law. The committee consists of farmers, processors, roasters, and retailers from within the state. The University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources assisted the committee, which held continuous meetings over several months and finally unanimously agreed on a new direction to recommend to the Hawaii Legislature.

After 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, Kona Farmers Alliance, Hawaii Farm Bureau, and Kona Pacific Farmers Cooperative. Possible impacts were raised by these organizations, leading to further amendments of the legal provisions.

Q: Who supports it and who opposes it?

A: During the 2002 Hawaii legislative session, this bill was introduced as part of the Farm Bureau package. The Farm Bureau supported HCA's petition to follow legislative procedures. 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 our members had different opinions on whether the minimum should be 10%, 33%, or 50%. We then sought common ground—something that was both agreeable and beneficial to the public. We found that to be truth-in-labeling—clearly informing consumers about what they're buying. Truth-in-labeling is a concept with little controversy.

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

A: Yes, but only applies to blends using Kona Coffee. Like current law, it requires using at least 10% Kona coffee beans. There are no requirements for coffee beans from other Hawaii regions.

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

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

For those who blend foreign beans with Hawaii-grown coffee beans, the actual percentage of Hawaii coffee beans must be marked on the front label in the same font size as the Hawaii origin. For example: what's currently labeled "Kona Blend" must be changed to "__% Kona Blend". The current 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 be marked 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 provides producers with a one-year grace period to continue 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 use Hawaii coffee. When we mention Hawaii coffee, we mean the recognized Hawaii origins, including: Kona, Kauai, Molokai, Oahu, and Maui. When called Hawaii origin, it 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 informing sellers and consumers.

Our website: www.hawaiicoffeeassoc.org

HCA is a recognized industry umbrella organization by 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. However, for the past two years, we have focused on market and education integration, finding that Truth-in-Labeling is an effective method that aligns with these issues.