What Guarantees Kona Coffee’s Quality? You'll Never Guess...

Coffee aficionados and casual coffee drinkers alike rave about the quality of Kona coffee. It’s not uncommon to see tourists walking out of grocery stores with bags and boxes of 100% Kona coffee. It’s very likely that you’ll see coffee shops serving locally-sourced coffee brewing many cups of Kona coffee… and why not?

What makes Kona coffee such a hot commodity? Is it the faces behind the counters that sell or brew the cups of coffee? Absolutely! Is it the ambience of a coffee shop or your home regardless of the time of year? Absolutely! Is it the unmatched taste and quality? Also absolutely! But that’s not the entire story. What is the one ingredient that guarantees the quality of Kona coffee? Regulation!

How can that be? 

The State of Hawai‘i has imposed several regulations over the years by either legislative acts (“statutes”) or administrative rules- through the Department of Agriculture. Some of these regulations relate to the importing and exporting of Kona coffee, other regulations relate to how coffee is labeled, and others relate to coffee grading standards. While government has many goals when it comes to regulating industries, the primary goals here are to: (1) prevent the spread and impact of imperfection-causing invasive species; (2) to prevent the degredation of the “Kona coffee” and other Hawai‘i-produced coffees’ names, and; (3) to ensure the consistent quality of green beans harvested. 

There’s a few things to unpack there so let’s take a closer look at these issues.

Invasive Species

In 2010, the Department of Agriculture was alerted that the coffee berry borer had infested coffee cherries in the Kona region. In March 2023, Kauaʻi Now reported that in 2019, the total damage from the berry borer infestation totaled $7.7 million. If that wasn’t enough, in October 2020, coffee leaf rust was found on Hawai‘i island. Within three months it had spread to the other islands. Hawaii (sic.) News Now reported in July 2021 that it was estimated that losses from coffee lead rust can range from 30% to 80%. 

Over the last approximately fifteen years, the State of Hawai‘i has taken legislative and administrative action to try to limit the inflow and outflow of these species while also directly providing or facilitating financial support for farmers to combat these species. Some measures include the following:

• Requiring coffee plants, plant parts, and used bags to have a permit and certificate of pest control treatment. Plants and plant seeds for propagation also require quarantine.

• Inspection upon entry for imports to determine if a fumigation treatment if necessary.

The State of Hawai‘i is extremely protective over our native plant life and therefore the Department of Agriculture takes measures to prevent the importing of diseases that can harm our agricultural capacity very seriously!

Don’t Besmirch the Name of Hawai‘i Coffees

In 1991, the Hawai‘i statute required that any coffees identifying as Hawai‘i-origin coffee must have a minimum of 10% locally-sourced coffee while the rest can be a blend of foreign-sourced coffees. Over the years there have been attempts to enact legislation that would increase this requirement, but to no avail. Over the years, it wasn’t uncommon for people to buy Hawaiian-blended coffee thinking that it was purely locally-sourced. In 2004, an edition of Consumer Reports called Kona coffee “second rate”. The reason for this? As it was discovered later, the coffee sampling that led to this article was actually a Kona coffee blend instead of being 100% Kona. This was clearly a damaging statement to Kona coffee’s image. 

(Tip: Next time you’re shopping around for any Hawai‘i coffee, check the packaging label to see if they are a “blend” or “100%”.)

In 2024, legislation was enacted that would require any Hawai‘i-labeled blends of coffee to contain a minimum of 51% locally-sourced coffee. This will ultimately increase the quality of coffee being sold due to the increase in the Hawai‘i-sourced coffees added. This also ensures that the quality of Hawai‘i-grown coffees will not be besmirched. 

Consistent Bean Quality

Among other things included in Title 4, Chapters 43 and 143 of the Hawai‘i Administrative Rules, heavy emphasis is placed on grading standards for Hawai‘i-grown coffees: cherry, parchment, and green coffees. While there are many details within the grading standards, the grading  standards primarily specify size requirements and imperfection limits for Type I and Type II beans. Type I beans have different grades while Type II beans are a typed separately because unlike Type I beans that have two beans per cherry, Type II beans have only one bean per cherry. Type II beans are also referred to as Peaberries.  

Type I beans are graded as the following:

• Extra Fancy

• Fancy

• Number 1

• Select

• Prime

• Number 3

• Offgrade

Just to be clear: just because a Type I bean is graded lower than Extra Fancy does not mean that the taste or quality of the coffees are compromised, nor are Type II beans. Other factors that affect the taste and quality of your experience with Hawai‘i-grown coffees include the elevation in which the coffee cherries are grown, how the beans are roasted, and how the beans and post-prepared grounds are stored. We wholeheartedly believe that the quality and taste of Hawai‘i-grown coffees are (in our humble opinion) second to none.

…

The State of Hawai‘i’s regulations has had deep implications for the local coffee industry. While some could argue that the regulations are controversial and at times difficult to decipher, the fact remains that the regulations have helped to ensure that coffees grown within the state are not only protected from invasive species and brand-degradation, but to preserve the coffee quality. 

Everyone enjoying a cup of Hawai‘i-grown coffee can rest assured that if you drink a cup of 100% coffees, you’re not only getting your money’s worth in taste and experience!

Cheers!