Lawmakers hope to get specific Hawaiʻi coffee labeling

By Laura Ruminski West Hawaii Today lruminski@westhawaiitoday.com | Thursday, February 1, 2024, 12:05 a.m.

For decades, legislation has been introduced in the Hawaii Legislature to regulate the percentage of locally grown coffee in blends that name a specific Hawaii region on labeling, and lawmakers hope this could be the year the measure could become law.

For more than 30 years, Hawaii has been the only region in the world that statutorily regulates the uses of its geographic names, such as “Kona,” “Maui” and “Ka‘u,” on labels of its specialty agricultural products but required that only 10% of the product originate in the geographic area indicated. In 2022, the Legislature found that this low percentage requirement directly damaged and degraded the reputation of world-famous Hawaii-grown coffees and damaged the economic interests of Hawaii coffee farmers and advanced the measure.

A bill was passed by the House calling for a 51% minimum for blends and sent to the Senate. Senate Agriculture and Environment Chair Sen. Mike Gabbard did a gut-and-replace maneuver to remove the 51% requirement and replace it with a “study” about the economic impact for farmers.

The 2022 Hawaii Senate passed the measure to set aside $100,000 for the Department of Agriculture to conduct an independent study to assess the economic impact of Hawaii’s coffee labeling laws on local coffee farmers and the industry.

The study was due by Jan. 1 to be considered during this legislative session.

Guild Consulting of Honolulu was awarded the contract to conduct the study, and on Jan.18, the DOA submitted the final report on “Economic Study on Changes in Coffee Labeling Law.”

The report highlights that increasing the minimum amount of Kona coffee from 10% to either 51% or 100% would be advantageous for local farmers, with a higher increase providing the most benefit. Additionally, the report anticipates that proposed labeling changes could result in a price increase for Kona coffee while seeing minimal impact on quantities grown or sold.

The study refutes claims made for years by coffee roaster/blenders in opposition of minimum percentages.

In written testimony to the Legislature last March, Hawaii Coffee Company, producers of the Lion and Royal Kona brands, wrote “by eliminating all 10% coffee blends, the overall demand for Kona coffee purchased from farmers by Hawaii Coffee Company, and other roasters, will significantly decline and will have corresponding negative impact on the coffee cherry price.”

With the DOA report in hand, Rep. Nicole Lowen, a Kona Democrat, along with 24 of her House colleagues, recently introduced HB2298 which establishes a timeline by which roasted coffee, instant coffee and ready-to-drink coffee beverages that use a geographic origin in labeling or advertising are required to contain a certain percentage of coffee by weight from that geographic origin. SB2481 is the companion bill in the Senate.

“Requiring coffee labeled as ‘Kona’ to actually be 100% Kona beans will protect the value of the Kona name and support farmers’ ability to get the best prices for their products,” said Lowen. “The report states that ‘unequivocally, it is expected that the proposed labeling changes will lead to a rise in the price of Kona coffee.’ Now it is time for the Legislature to act accordingly and to do what is best for farmers.”

Lowen is optimistic about the bill passing this session. It was introduced last week and passed first reading. It is next headed to Agriculture and Food Systems and Consumer Protection and Commerce committees.

“For many years, blenders opposed changing labeling laws because they said it would have a negative economic impact on farmers. At the same time, they also opposed bills asking for a study of the economic impact,” she said. “Despite that, we passed a bill for the study, and now the results of that study are in, confirming that changes to increase the percentage would benefit farmers, so we dispelled that argument this year.”

“Our objective is to protect the integrity of all regional coffee brands in Hawaii, like Kona and Kaʻu, and support our local farmers,” Rep. Kirstin Kahaloa, a West Hawaii Democrat.

Sen. Dru Kanuha, who introduced the companion measure, is looking forward to the bill moving forward this session.

“The Legislature has been introducing bills which aim to protect brand integrity and protect consumers,” he said. “This bill ensures that minimum blend amounts allowed for coffee products that bear geographic origin names constitute a majority of that product from that geographic origin. It will be a phased in approach, pushing for stronger protection for our local farmers and ensuring brand integrity of our state’s premium crop.”

Local legislators are not the only ones optimistic about the bill’s chances this year. Kona coffee farmer Bruce Corker agrees the DOA report will benefit both growers and consumers and protect the integrity of Hawaii-grown coffee along with other factors will make this year different.

He said public focus on the recent conclusion of the class action lawsuit alleging misleading and deceptive use of the “Kona” name on packages of non-Kona coffee — with a total of more than $41 million in settlement payments from defendants to Kona farmers — will serve in their favor.

In addition, Corker praised the strong and determined efforts of Kona’s legislative delegation to introduce, support and publicize the bill

“Hopefully, Hawaii will finally step up to support its farmers in the way other states support theirs with requirements of 100% genuine content — for example, Idaho for Idaho Potatoes; Vermont for its maple syrup; and Georgia for its Vidalia Onions,” he said.

“I look forward to robust debate if this bill moves through both chambers,” said Kanuha.