Pure Hawaiian, pure fair trade
Next time you wake up to the smell of coffee brewing, consider this: in the United States alone there are over 130 million coffee drinkers. It is ironic then, in an age when stringent international criteria are the buzz-phrases for the global coffee industry, Hawaii's coffee industry had, from day one, adopted fair-trade practices.
When you purchase Hawaiian Coffees, you are supporting American growers.  These hard-working farmers are almost always small artisan-growers who oversee every single aspect of the crop - from keikis (seedlings) to cup.

From keikis (seedlings) to cup
That is to say, a coffee farmer:

• propagates the seedlings
• amends and manages the soil
• Plants the trees
• tends to the trees
• hand picks tree-ripen coffee cherries
• ferments the coffee cherries
• dries the cherries to obtain green coffee beans 
• mills the green beans to obtain coffee beans
• finally,  roasts the green beans to obtain coffee as we know it.  That is, if she has a commercial roaster and most importantly, the artisanal expertise to bring the green beans to the exact temperature and legendary "second crack" that are heard and felt seconds before the desired mahogany color is achieved.
• timely and appropriate packaging so that all the freshness is captured.
• labeling for informing as well as being desirable to the consumer.

After all is said and done,  the Hawaiian farmer would have expanded 600% more time and energy in producing one pound of  coffee than his/her counterparts  in South America or Africa.

To market, to market...
While the Kona District of the Big Island had diligently cultivated global recognition through decades of marketing campaigns, the relative recent movement of 10%-Kona-Blends had done little to further the reputation of Pure Hawaiian Coffee as a whole.

Lucky for coffee lovers, Ka'u Coffee, Puna Coffee, Hilo Coffee and Hamakua  Coffee are all making news as premium coffees.  Coffees grown on the East coast of the Big Island are really the "heirlooms" of Hawaiian Coffee. 

Coffee connoisseurs had long consider that careful stewardship of land and trees,  couple with the  proper post-harvest handling of coffee cherries can "make or break" the end product. The meticulous artisan aspect is key to the enduring traits of a fantastic cup of coffee.  

The various coffees from Hamakua, Hilo, Puna and Ka’u embody the true essence of entrepreneurship and American innovation.  While these Hawaiian Coffees appear to have a "luxury" price point, coffee  drinkers  are rightfully proud to be consumers of a world-class product that is both "Made in the USA", "Hawaiian Made" and full of Aloha.