Coffee production in Hawaii

John Wilkinson, a gardener who came on HMS Blonde in 1825 under Captain Lord Byron, brought coffee plants from Brazil.

Joseph Goodrich tried planting some coffee to make the Hilo mission self-sustaining.

Goodrich planted gardens over his 12 years at Hilo, and taught classes for native Hawaiians on cultivation of both for cash to support the mission, as well as vegetables and tropical fruits for their own meals.

Around 1880 John Gaspar, Sr. (Married to Maria Rice Santos), built the first coffee mill in Hawaii near Kealakekua Bay.

[8] Also about this time lady bugs (also called ladybird beetles) were able to control the scale infestation.

[9] Japanese laborers from sugarcane plantations would often start small farms in Kona after their employment contracts expired.

The closing of the sugar and pineapple plantations in the 1990s provided a slow resurgence in the coffee industry.

Other districts on the island where coffee is grown include Kaʻū in the far south, Puna in the southeast, and Hāmākua in the northeast.

[12] Although coffee can be harvested year-round in Hawaii, the highest production runs from August to December.

Although total production increased from 2007 to about 8.6 million pounds, farm prices actually dropped, so the dollar value decreased by about 8%.

[14] (Due to the relatively few coffee farms on Kauai, the numbers of Maui and Honolulu are combined in USDA statistics to avoid disclosure of individual operations in those counties.)