A consequential week

This Week in Hawaii Coffee: June 20–26, 2026

Kauai Coffee secured a long-term future, statewide pest rules changed, and three coffee businesses received manufacturing support.

June 20–26, 2026 Published June 26, 2026

The week's biggest coffee story came from Kauai, where a new 15-year lease ended months of uncertainty around the state's largest coffee estate. A day earlier, Hawaii changed the quarantine map for coffee berry borer, reshaping routine interisland movement for growers and processors. Manufacturing awards offered a smaller but encouraging signal about where local coffee companies are investing next.

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News and scene updates

Two business developments point toward continuity and reinvestment.

Kauai's biggest coffee story

Kauai Coffee secures a 15-year future in Kalaheo

Kauai Coffee signed a new agricultural lease covering its 3,100-acre estate, ending a period in which the farm's operations and local jobs appeared at risk.

When Announced June 25Where Kalaheo, Kauai

Why it matters: The agreement preserves one of Hawaii's largest agricultural operations, keeps the local team in place, and allows the company to plan new investment in farm technology, machinery, and visitor experiences. For West Kauai, this is both an industry story and a community-stability story.

Best for: people following Hawaii agriculture; Kauai coffee visitors

Original organizer listing Plan an estate visit

Capacity building

Coffee businesses appear in Hawaii's manufacturing awards

Coffees of Hawaii, Kona Mountain Coffee, and Waimea Coffee Farm were included in HTDC's FY26 Manufacturing Assistance Program awards.

When Announced June 18

Why it matters: The program supports investments in the machinery and production systems that help local products scale. For coffee, that means looking beyond farms and competitions to the infrastructure that turns harvests into reliable roasted, packaged, and distributed products.

Best for: Hawaii coffee business watchers; local-product buyers

Original organizer listing

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Useful to know

The pest designation changes what requires a permit, and where.

Biosecurity shift

Lanai and Kauai join the coffee berry borer quarantine map

Hawaii designated Lanai and Kauai as coffee berry borer-infested areas, bringing almost every island with commercial coffee production under the same designation.

When Effective June 24Where Statewide, with separate Molokai protections

Why it matters: The change removes routine permits and inspections for several categories of coffee and equipment moving among infested islands, while keeping Molokai's protections intact. Anyone shipping green beans, used bags, equipment, plants, or seed should check which side of that boundary their shipment falls on.

Best for: growers and processors; interisland coffee businesses

Original organizer listing