The history of Kona coffee is one of ups and downs, booms and
near busts. It is a history that is truly multicultural. In
order of immigration, Native Hawaiians, Haoles, the Chinese, Portuguese,
Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, and Puerto Ricans, have all played important
roles.
The Kona coffee culture has long been characterized by a strong work ethic,
independence, self-sufficiency, family unity, and cooperation—among family
members, households and the community.
In 1813, Don Francisco de Paula Y Marin, a Spaniard and
Kamehameha's "right hand man" planted coffee on the island of Oahu.
In 1825, John Wilkinson, an English agriculturist, acquires
coffee plants in Brazil. These plants are brought to Oahu and planted in Manoa
Valley at the estate of Chief Boki, the island's governor. In
1828, Reverend Samuel Ruggles, an American missionary, takes
cuttings from the coffee plants at Chief Boki's estate and brings them to Kona.
The coffee Reverend Ruggles plants is a strain of the variety Coffee Arabica
that originated in the high plateaus of Ethiopia. It becomes known in Hawaii as
"Kanaka Koppe" (Hawaiian coffee). It is still cultivated in Kona
today.
In the 1830s, coffee becomes a commercial crop in the Hawaiian
Islands. The only coffee grown commercially in the United States is produced in
Hawaii.
In 1849, a dip in the coffee market accompanies the
commencement of the California Gold Rush. In 1950, coffee
prices start to climb, but it isn't long before labor shortages, pest and
disease infestations, and drought combine to bring serious decline to the
Hawaiian coffee industry. Coffee plantations are shut down to be replaced by
sugar cane plantations.
By 1860, the era of the sugar plantation is well underway.
Coffee plantations have almost vanished from the Islands. The only large coffee
farms remaining are found in the Kona and Hamakua regions of the big Island.
In the 1880s, the Sugar Reciprocity Treaty between Hawaii and
the U.S. encourages an even greater shift from coffee to sugar. Kona coffee
production is limited almost entirely to local consumption.
In the 1890s, a sharp upsurge of world coffee market prices
catalyzes American and European investments in Kona and ushers in the era of
the large coffee plantations. Boom times arrive in Kona.
Beginning in 1885, Japanese immigrants are brought to Big
Island sugar plantations to work, on 3-year labor contracts, under severe
conditions. Many find their way to Kona and are employed as coffee pickers.
In the late 1800s, a strain of Guatemalan Arabica coffee is
introduced to Kona. This type, becoming known as "Meliken Koppe"
(American coffee) is the preferred and predominate strain cultivated in Kona
today.
In 1899, the world coffee market crashes. World coffee prices
plummet as a consequence of an oversupply on the world market, bringing Kona
coffee prices sharply and steadily down. At the same time, world sugar prices
soar. This combination of events leads Haole investors to begin to shift their
money from coffee to sugar production. At this time, Hawaii has nearly 6,000
acres coffee cultivation.
At the turn of the 19th century, the era of the large Hawaiian
coffee plantations comes to an end. The Kona coffee industry nears extinction.
Steep terrain and scarce water, however, make large scale sugar cultivation in
Kona impossible.
Due to the abysmal condition of the coffee market, W.W. Brunner, a German
immigrant coffee farmer, subdivides his large coffee plantation for lease to
tenant farmers. So begins a trend as other coffee plantation owners follow
suit. Plantations are subdivided into 5 to 15 acre parcels and leased,
primarily, to first generation (issei) Japanese immigrant family ventures. At
first, just male family members worked. Later, the female members joined in to
work through all phases of coffee production. Leased pieces are sized to allow
for family management without hired help. Large families of 8 to 11 children
are common.
By 1910, Japanese farmers comprise 80% of Kona's coffee
farmers and family ventures carry on most coffee production. This marks the
beginning of the transition from large coffee plantations to small family
farms, a transformation that saved and revolutionized the Kona coffee industry.
World War I begins in 1914. The armies buy up large quantities
of coffee to provide sustenance for combat. High world demand for coffee
swiftly pushes world market prices up, in turn sending Kona coffee prices
flying. Coffee prices stay high until 1928 creating prosperous
times for Kona coffee farmers.
In 1929, the world coffee market bottoms out again with the
onset of the Great Depression. In the 1930s, family farmers
continue to produce coffee, but diversify into macadamia nut cultivation.
Beginning in 1932, Kona public schools are closed for
"Coffee Vacation" from August to November rather than June to
September like the rest of Hawaii in order to free children to help
(kökua) with the coffee harvest.
In 1940, the second World War causes coffee prices to rise
again as armies load up on provisions. To curb the upswing, the U.S. government
imposes a ceiling on coffee prices. After the war ends, world coffee prices
continue, generally, to rise for the next few years -- with cyclical
downswings. The donkeys, affectionately known as "Kona Nightingales"
because of their bray, that were used historically to carry coffee cherry
across the rocky terrain to the coffee mills are replaced by jeeps.
World and local prices that had started to droop rise again in
1950 with the onslaught of the Korean War. There is an exodus
from farms into construction, civil service, military surplus, and tourist
related industries. In 1958, there are under 7,000 acres in
coffee cultivation. Kona coffee growers begin to establish their own mills;
Pacific Coffee and Sunset Coffee Cooperatives are formed in a further effort to
gain control of the production process, in the hopes of increasing prices and
profits for farmers. Until the late 1950s, the Kona market is
controlled by 2 firms, Captain Cook Coffee Company and American Factors. There
are 12 mills in Kona by 1959.
In 1969, the "Coffee Vacation" is finally eliminated
to conform Kona school summer vacations with those of the rest of Hawaii's
schools.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, the price of
Kona coffee experiences sharp ups and downs. The dramatic growth of the
specialty coffee market, however, revitalizes the Kona coffee industry. In
1979, Douglas Bong ships the first coffee parchment outside of
coop control, thus breaking the coop monopoly. Other U.S. mainland west coast
transplants quickly follow suit. Kona coffee establishes a firm foothold for
itself among the very finest gourmet coffees. Increasingly educated consumers
demand Kona coffee and are willing to pay its premium price.
In the 1990s, despite the high price of Kona coffee, many
coffee farmers are compelled to diversify their production to include macadamia
nuts, avocados, and other crops, while others have seek part-time off-farm
employment.
In 1994, drought conditions following coffee flowering cause a
premature drop off of fruit and consequent significant decline in cherry
production. The As a result, the Kona coffee harvest, estimated at
approximately 1.5 million pounds always representing just a small share of the
world harvest, shrinks to an even tinier portion. Kona coffee production for
1994 is, or just a tiny fraction of total world production.
1996... Hawaii remains the sole US producer of commercially
grown coffee and Kona coffee remains truly rare. There are
over 600 coffee farms in Kona, but most are just 2 to 3 acres in size. The
annual coffee harvest is still underway, so the net effect of the extremely wet
conditions (more rain than in the past 10 years) that followed flowering is not
yet known.
The gourmet specialty coffee market continues to flourish, thus assuring
continued high demand for Kona coffee. Most Kona coffee is purchased by large
companies to be combined to create bulk non-estate packaged Kona coffee or to
add dimension to blends of cheaper, less finely flavored coffees. Nevertheless,
private estate labels and small roasting companies, some owned by Americans
arriving in Hawaii in the 1960s and 70s, are finding a niche in the coffee
market. It is still highly unusual, however, to encounter, outside of Hawaii, a
selection of limited production Kona coffees as broad and exceptionally fine as
Hawaiian Paradise Trading Company presents. And because buying through HI-Trade
means buying directly from the source.
1997 ― The Historic D. Uchida Coffee Farm, a Kona Historic Society
community project is slated to open. This "Living History Coffee
Farm" is an open-air educational facility located on a National Register
Historical Site, a coffee farm built in 1925 by a Japanese immigrant family.
Regularly scheduled tours will be offered when restoration is complete. In the
interim, you may arrange a tour by calling the Kona Historical Society at (808)
323-3222.
.
*The information set forth in this section was gleaned from
personal conversations with Sheree Chase of the Kona Historical Society and
various Kona coffee farmers, and from the following written sources:
The Kona Coffee Story, Along the Hawai'i Belt, by A. Kikumura with E. Azuma and
D. C. Iki (Japanese American National Museum)
Kona Coffee News, Spring 1995 (Kona Coffee Council)
Visit the Kona Historical Society, in the old Greenwell Store, another National
Register Historical Site, situated on the makai (ocean) side of the Mamalahoa
Highway (Highway 11), next to the Kona Meat Market just south of the town of
Kealakekua. There, you will find a fascinating exhibit on display and an
archive for more in-depth research.
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