A County Council committee reached an agreement on a proposed bill that’s being touted as a way to encourage truth in labeling on coffee packages here.
The Agriculture, Water and Energy Sustainability Committee voted unanimously Wednesday afternoon to send resolution 501 to the council with a positive recommendation. That measure, introduced by South Kona/Ka‘u Councilwoman Brenda Ford, called on the state Legislature to adopt provisions requiring labels on the front of all coffee packages that list the origins of all of the coffee inside. For example, Ford said, on a 10 percent Kona coffee blend, the package must say that 90 percent of the coffee is of foreign origin, or name the country of origin, followed by 10 percent Kona.
The measure also called for a law limiting use of any Hawaii-specific geographic description, whether that is Hawaii-grown, Kona, Kauai or Ka‘u, to coffee blends with at least 51 percent coffee grown in that region. Ford said she intended to amend her original bill to say 75 percent, but brought the wrong paperwork. Her colleagues said they were more comfortable with 51 percent than 75 percent anyway.
“I have been looking at the packaging,” Puna Councilman Zendo Kern said. “That 10 percent (on the label) can be deceiving.”
He said he liked the idea of more accurate labels.
“I don’t think it’s a bad ask,” Kern said. “I think we should just pass it. I think we should stick with the 51 (percent). It think it’s palatable.”
Ford said tourists won’t be likely to pay a premium for coffee that is 90 percent from somewhere else. At that point, they’re more likely to turn their attention to a blend with at least 51 percent Hawaii-grown coffee, she said.
“Other states, other countries protect their farmers, by saying if you’re going to blend, then you’ve got to disclose,” she said. “But not in Hawaii. Every other agricultural crop in Hawaii is protected in that manner, except for Hawaii-grown coffee.”
The committee previously took testimony on the bill. Slightly less than half of the testifiers, most of whom worked in the coffee blending industry or sold their coffee cherry to blenders, opposed the measure. Farmers who roast and sell 100 percent Kona coffee under their own labels generally supported the measure.