More Hawaiian farms now produce coffee than any other crop. Since the 1980s, Hawaiian coffee production figures have soared. As coffee enthusiasts around the world sought higher quality and more ethically sourced coffee, Kona was able to claim and maintain a brand of excellence in the eyes of coffee lovers.” At the same time, global specialty coffee production started gaining momentum. Hawaiian coffee survived, expanding and contracting in the 20th century, until about 30 years ago, when things started changing.īrandon says: “During the 1980s, sugar and pineapple production started declining in Hawaii. “While coffee has been in Hawaii for nearly 200 years,” Brandon explains, “sugar and pineapple remained the dominant crops of the islands during the 19th and 20th centuries.” However, Brandon explains that commercial agriculture in Hawaii has not historically favoured coffee as a cash crop. At the time, most farms were owned and operated by European and American colonists. However, Brandon says that native Hawaiians also helped the regional coffee industry to grow. Many of these workers originally came from Japan and China.
“The Hawaiian coffee industry was developed mostly by the efforts of smallholder farmers and migrant workers.” “At the 1873 World’s Fair in Vienna, Kona coffee received its first international accolade,” Brandon tells me. Soon after, seedlings made their way over to Kona – the humble beginnings of what is now a globally recognised coffee origin, protected by state law.” He tells me: “The history of Kona coffee dates back to 1828, when it was first introduced to the Big Island by Reverend Samuel Ruggles, who brought seeds from Brazil to Hilo. Brandon von Damitz is the co-founder and co-owner of Big Island Coffee Roasters – located on the eponymous island, which is the largest in Hawaii.
0 kommentar(er)
