Hoping that by bringing the roasting process much closer to the place where the coffee is grown will further improve the quality of product, Kauai Coffee Company, Inc. recently unveiled a new $350,000 investment. A state-of-the-art coffee roaster means, among
Hoping that by bringing the roasting process much closer to the place where the coffee is grown will further improve the quality of product, Kauai Coffee Company, Inc. recently unveiled a new $350,000 investment.
A state-of-the-art coffee roaster means, among other things, that the company has eliminated its previous need to ship to the Mainland for roasting all the coffee it sold in Hawai’i.
New automated packaging equipment also allows that work to be done near the site of the former McBryde Sugar Company’s management offices at Numila, near Kalaheo.
On what may be an even more important note, the company has worked extremely hard to improve the quality of its product, to the point where the American Culinary Institute in Napa Valley, Calif., is featuring several of Kauai Coffee’s brews in its coffee shop and gift shop.
The American Culinary Institute is probably the most famous Mainland-based cook-training school, and wouldn’t dare put a substandard coffee on their menu or shelves, said Frank Kiger, Kauai Coffee Company president and general manager.
“With the finest computer-controlled equipment now at our disposal, we are able to better control the roasting and flavoring processes, and have improved the quality of our estate-roasted Kauai Coffee,” said Kiger.
The new Diedrich roaster increases Kauai Coffee’s estate-roasted capacity more than seven-fold, and enables the company to roast on its premises and under its control all of the coffee it sells in Hawai’i.
Previously, a 12-kilogram (26.4-pound) roaster at the Kauai Coffee Visitor Center roasted all the locally sold coffee, he said.
In addition to the new packaging system, new labels surround the locally grown and roasted Kauai Coffee. Blue labels signify regular coffee, green is decaffeinated, and purple are the three flavored varieties, already on store shelves at Kmart, Wal-Mart, Big Save, and many other locations.
“Together with our new packaging equipment, we can roast and package different coffee types as needed, meaning fresher, higher-quality coffee for our customers in Hawai’i,” said Kiger.
“This $350,000 investment was a strong vote of confidence by our parent company, A&B (Alexander & Baldwin, Inc.), and is a key effort to capture more of the value of our crop, and to better serve our valued Hawai’i-based customers,” he continued.
The roaster has computerized controls that allow precise variance of roasting cycles according to the variety of coffee to be produced.
The new roaster capacity is roughly 300 pounds per hour, or about 450,000 pounds per year during a 40-hour work week. The packaging equipment forms, fills and seals from 20 to 35 bags per minute, depending on the size of each bag.
The Rev. Harold Kilborn of Koloa Assembly of God church performed the blessing of the new coffee-roasting plant.
The increased capacity will help meet growing demand for roasted coffee sold at the Kauai Coffee Visitor Center along Halewili Road between Kalaheo and ‘Ele’ele, at local retail outlets, and through the company’s Web site, www.kauaicoffee.com.
Kiger said in any two-week period, visitors from all 50 states browse in the visitor center, which is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. In addition to the ability to sample some 16 different kinds of Kauai Coffee, visitors can via interactive computers find out the locations of roasters of Kauai Coffee in their home states.
The visitor center has been an “incredible boost” for Kauai Coffee’s product recognition, as well as mail-order and Internet sales, and is good for the Mainland roasters and consumers, Kiger said.
Roughly 225,000 pounds of Kauai Coffee’s crop is currently sold roasted, with the balance sold as un-roasted green beans to grocers, specialty roasters and distributors worldwide who sell the coffee under their own labels.
Demand for estate-roasted coffee is expected to increase even further with Hawaiian Sun serving as a new distributor for Kauai Coffee, increasing its visibility and availability statewide.
Kaua’i native Michael Shimatsu continues as roast master, and is now assisted by David Suliven.
Kauai Coffee has increased production, sales and marketing staff, having recently hired Richard Loero as operations manager. Loero has nearly a decade of experience in operations and marketing at coffee processing plants and roasteries in Peru.
The company hopes sales efforts will be boosted by Marty Amaro, recently hired as supervisor for sales and distribution for Kauai Coffee, and tasked with these responsibilities within the Hawai’i and Pacific regions.
Amaro is also responsible for sales and distribution of Maui Brand sugars, a line of specialty sugars produced at A&B’s Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (HC&S) on Maui.
Kaua’i native Annette Perreira continues as coordinator of Kauai Coffee’s Web site and mail order sales programs.
Kauai Coffee Co. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALEX), and employs around 50 people (100 seasonal jobs are added during the annual fall harvest).
Kauai Coffee Company is the largest coffee grower in Hawai’i and the United States, and the world’s largest coffee plantation using drip irrigation. It produces 60 percent of the state’s coffee on its 3,400-acre estate spanning from ‘Ele’ele to Po’ipu.
More information and product purchases are available at www.kauaicoffee.com.
A&B, with headquarters in Honolulu, is engaged in real property development and management through its subsidiary A&B Properties, Inc.; in ocean transportation through its subsidiary Matson Navigation Company, Inc.; and in food products through Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company and Kauai Coffee Company, Inc.
Additional information about A&B may be found at the Web site, www.alexanderbaldwin.com.
