General Production Information

Hawaii’s coffee industry is one of the most diverse and dynamic in the world. Current technologies and production practices span a range of producers from 1-acre, certified organic, rainfed farms to 4000-acre, totally mechanized, irrigated plantations (Bittenbender and Smith 2000). Even feral coffee, sown from the droppings of birds and pigs, is harvested from forests and long-abandoned farms on most of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands. Coffee is a small evergreen tree that flowers on the previous year’s growth. The tree has two distinct types of branches: vertical (orthotropic) and lateral (plagiotropic). The basic difference between vertical and lateral branches is growth habit. Verticals always grow up, produce laterals once at the leaf nodes and thereafter only new verticals at those nodes. Laterals grow horizontally and produce leaves, flowers, and new laterals. The fragrant white flowers are self-fertile producing red–or yellow fruit depending on the variety. The fruit, or 'cherries, ' normally contain two seeds. After processing the seeds are called 'green bean ' or 'green coffee', and can be stored for a couple years under ambient conditions. Coffee is roasted just prior to sale to consumers. Only then does it have the characteristic smell and color consumers expect. ● Hawaii and Puerto Rico are the only two places where coffee is grown in the United States