We stopped by Kauai Coffee again today because the story has moved from speculation to a hard date. The visitor center was open, the parking lot turned over steadily, and visitors moved through the gift shop and coffee tasting space the way they always do. People sampled, wandered the paths, browsed the shop, and posed for photos with the South Shore fields stretching out behind.
Nothing on the ground tells you that this operation now has any visible upcoming deadline. Nothing signals that the employees are weeks away from receiving termination notices. Nothing warns visitors that fewer than 100 days remain before the land lease expires on March 28, 2026.
Those details did not come from our visit. They came directly from the County Council meeting. What emerged in testimony yesterday made it clear that this is no longer just a stalled lease negotiation. It is a fully integrated agricultural operation facing a fixed end date while sitting on land that was already being marketed for sale more than a year before the public ever heard of any lease troubles.
What the council was told, without euphemisms.
At the Council Chair’s request, Kauai Coffee’s senior advisor, Wayne Katayama, appeared before the Council. He brought 20 employees with him, seated behind him throughout the briefing, a stark reminder that this is not an abstract land dispute but a local workforce staring at a calendar.
Katayama said that there is a cliff, and it arrives on March 28, 2026. All 141 employees will receive termination notices in the next few weeks. The exact dates will depend on how the operation winds down, but the notices are required under labor law, given the uncertainty around the lease.
He was explicit that this does not mean Kauai Coffee has given up. Rather, it means the timeline has reached the point where preparation for a shutdown is mandatory, even if negotiations continue. With fewer than 100 days left and no transition framework in place, the company has no legal or ethical choice but to warn its employees.
About 30% of employees have been with the company for more than a decade. Several have twenty years in service, and three have been there for far longer. The majority of the workforce is represented by ILWU Local 142, adding another layer of complexity to any situation. Kauai Coffee also employs three senior coffee graders whose combined experience spans decades of farming, processing, roasting, and distribution.
A long-time Kauai business that cannot be copied and pasted.
Kauai Coffee is not a small or modular operation. The enormous farm that visitors encounter, roughly between Poipu and Waimea, comprises 3,000 acres and has about 4 million coffee trees, which produce 10 to 12 million pounds of coffee fruit annually. That yields roughly one to two million pounds of green coffee, all now processed on Kauai before being roasted, bagged, and sold.
Kauai Coffee pushed back on the idea that this could be cleanly handed off. What exists there now took decades to build, starting with a landowner willing to think in generations, not years. It also depends on water, power, and enough capital to survive long stretches where there is little to no return. On top of that is the human side: the agronomy, processing, roasting, and global sales expertise.
Katayama was blunt. Even if someone else grows coffee on the land, he told the Council, it will not be Kauai Coffee.
What the landowner says, and what the timeline shows.
The landowner, Brue Baukol Capital Partners (BBCP), has said publicly and directly that it intends to continue coffee operations after Kauai Coffee exits. That claim sits uneasily next to the timeline now on record and the Council testimony of Kauai Coffee.
BBCP purchased the land from Alexander & Baldwin in 2023, inheriting a lease expiring in March 2026. In August 2024, roughly a year after their purchase, the property was listed for sale by CBRE as a 4,713-acre holding, with nearly five miles of oceanfront, with 695 acres designated for urban development under the West Kauai Community Plan.
In other words, the land was actively marketed more than sixteen months ago, while lease negotiations were still being framed publicly as ongoing. Katayama told councilmembers that BBCP teams have visited the site, but described the engagement as superficial, given the time remaining.
None of the agreements that normally signal a real transition are present here. There has been no asset purchase, no labor or union assumption, no brand valuation despite an option to buy it, and no discussions of equipment or inventory. With fewer than 100 days left, nothing that you would expect to be underway is.
“These things normally start a lot earlier,” Katayama told the Council, particularly for an operation that takes at least eighteen months of capital just to move through a single crop’s production. None of that groundwork is in place.
The land story beneath the business story.
Only a small part of the property is classified as Important Agricultural Land. The rest could, over time, be rezoned, which is of great interest to some and concern to others. Councilmembers did not speculate, but the issue surfaced repeatedly.
The Kauai Council Chair said he hopes development is not the intent, adding that it would be sad to see an operation like Kauai Coffee disappear. Another councilmember was more direct, stating, “You encourage a good company like Kauai Coffee, itās a lot easier for people to approve things. You kick them out and create destruction; itās harder to approve things.”
Water, land, and what could disappear.
Beyond jobs and visitors, the Council reviewed a risk that rarely makes headlines. Kauai Coffee manages part of a historic sugar-era water system that has operated continuously for more than 150 years. The farm draws from Alexander Reservoir and the Hanapepe River water, storing water in six reservoirs.
Flows from Alexander alone can reach six to eight million gallons per day. Kauai Coffee said that spraying water across 3,000 acres helps recharge aquifers rather than sending runoff directly to the ocean. That kind of water management is not just infrastructure. It rarely survives abrupt ownership changes.
This isn’t a craft coffee story.
Kauai Coffee holds both Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade certifications, with independent audits, the company says, that can be more restrictive than EPA and OSHA standards. It is one of the few farms in the state to carry both. The company also works with the Kauai Community Correctional Center on reentry programs, a detail that rarely surfaces.
None of that makes Kauai Coffee a model corporate citizen. The operation exists because coffee was the most viable crop after macadamia orchards failed following Hurricane Iniki, not because anyone set out to build a specialty brand. Kauai Coffee was never positioned as artisan or small-batch. It was built for scale and distribution, and the company has had its share of conflicts over pesticides, water, and land use over the years.
The point is not to create heroes or assign blame. Multiple players made decisions that led to this moment. Workers, visitors, and residents are the ones left standing in the middle.
If relocation were even attempted.
The council asked if Kauai Coffee could possibly move. The answers were measured and sobering. New coffee plantings take at least five years to produce a first viable crop, and to avoid carrying over coffee berry borer and leaf rust, the company would likely want to start fresh on new land.
Kauai Coffee currently has up to two years of green coffee in inventory, which could bridge at least a brief gap. But even if land were found, processing facilities, roasting equipment, water access, power, and logistics would all have to be rebuilt, and none of that happens quickly or cheaply, especially on Kauai.
There is potential agricultural land on the island’s West Side, but without a ramp-up of at least two years, Kauai Coffee said relocation would be devastating.
How the Council sounded.
The Council sounded like neighbors watching something familiar disappear. One compared it to Ishiharaās Market, a place so embedded in Kauai’s daily life that its importance is only fully understood once it is gone. “Itās part of our culture. Itās part of our life,” he said. “And then poof. Itās gone.”
What Kauai visitors should know now.
If you are visiting Kauai before March 28, the visitor center remains open, and nothing on the ground signals immediate change. Beyond that date, the situation becomes entirely uncertain. If this stop is central to your plans, it is worth checking close to your travel dates rather than assuming it will still be there.
For broader coffee alternatives across the islands, we outlined options in Itās More Than Kona Coffee. A Coffee Loverās Hawaii Guide, though nothing replaces this operationās scale or accessibility. Our December background article, 350,000 Visitors A Year May Lose Iconic Kauai Experience, remains essential context for how quickly this situation escalated.
From a few miles away, we will keep watching. What the Council heard yesterday made one thing clear. This ending has actually been approaching for a long time. The only surprise is how quickly and quietly it arrived.
Does knowing the land was marketed for sale long before the public was told change how you see what is happening now?
Photo Credits: Beat of Hawaii at Kauai Coffee Company.
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Such a disappointing turn of events: We had just watched ‘The Descendents’ and the parallels to that film are stunning. We have enjoyed Kauai coffee over the years and always bring the peaberry home that was bought at the Maui Costco home with us. We are proud that we supported your company through the years and wish good luck.
I’ve been buying Kauai coffee ever since the commissary at MCAS Miramar, San Diego, started selling it. I will be very disappointed if it “disappears.”
Good article, but you might want to change the title … as it kinda implies death either from KC coffee or other causes š
I agree and sympathize with the comments of Richard, Randy and Kauaidoug. This whole situation is all so very sad. Everyone should just stop and pause for a moment, and realize that 141 individuals and their families will be unemployed if Kauai Coffee shuts down. That is a significant gut punch for a small island like Kauai. The economic losses are not just deeply felt financially, but culturally and emotionally. If it turns out that this property will eventually see coastal building and development, that will have a lasting negative effect for all who love and cherish Kauai.
If Kauai Council had a spine, they would make it clear there will be no new hotel development on that 5 mile stretch of beach.
Here’s the truth. Right from the package. Kauai fancy whole bean coffee. Distributed by Costco Wholesale Corporation Seattle WA. Another package states Royal Kona coffee for Royalty. Sam Choy’s volcano roast. 10% kona blend and yes Kona blend. Distributed by Hawaii Coffee Company. Honolulu Hawaii. And then there’s Lions Coffee. Honolulu Hawaii. Whether it’s 100% Kona or the inexpensive 10% Kona and whatever blend determines the price point. Not all coffee in Hawaii is treated equal so please read the packages. Different blends and percentages to meet certain price points. I found the packages that state 100% kona coffee versus the blend were twice as expensive. No stories on these other coffee companies. I wonder why?
No hereās the truth Kauai Coffee is 100% Hawaiian made coffee. I live 15 minutes from the coffee fields and drink it every day. One of my best friends spent his life building that coffee farm the beginning. Iām just glad heās no longer here to watch this travesty of Big Haole money continuing to destroy Hawaii. Sad
I didn’t state that Kauai Kona coffee wasn’t 100%. My package states whole bean from Kona Coffee. I was just making a point where there are more island coffee manufacturing companies and it isn’t like Kauai Kona Coffee is the last and only one. Some sell blends and others sell 100% Hawaiian grown Coffee. I even think there is a family operated growing roasting coffee farm on Maui. At least it don’t mean your last cup grown and manufactured in Hawaii. Nice to know there are other island coffee producers around. Maybe some future stories on other products that are still around.
While I will be sad to see the coffee product disappear, my heart breaks for the island. For the land and the workers, for what it means fornthe culture. The fact that this land is being marketed for commercial use is devastating, bringing in more unrest and commotion to this beautiful space, as developers snatch up another prize to exploit residents and visitors, alike. Seriously, why cant they respect what makes Kauai what it is, its peace. When will we let the island rest?
I’m always mystified when a business rents or leases, is there years and years and either A) doesn’t try to buy it, B) doesn’t try to negotiate out years ahead, C) acts surprised when they didn’t do A or B then the business is at a crossroads.
My Grandpa was a farmer and the minute he got started on a lease, he was already saving money to Buy and then own, for this exact reason. Not sure what some of these businesses are doing with their profits, but if you’re not investing in security (land/building, etc) then what Are you doing?
Sad, very sad.
What’s new. Everything and Anything involving Hawaii anymore is uncertain.
IMO the only thing that is more in reality is that Hawaii wants less tourists and more spending and revenue.
A sad tale indeed to lose one of handful of home-grown Hawaiian businesses. The financial, environmental impact is the last thing this state needs. Given the extraordinary personal wealth in this state, it would be pocket change for one of these billionaires to save this iconic Hawaiian enterprise.
It’s not so much knowing the land was marketed for sale long before the public was told, but the 4 words in your editorial that explains it clearly. “five miles of oceanfront”. I hope I am wrong, but I can’t imagine that BBCP has any intention other than to use that prime area for more hotels and condos I don’t see how the one, 80 mile, 2 lane highway can handle hundreds of more vehicles and the thousands of people in the new hotels, resorts and condos. From the few mentions in your article re: Council, I sense they aren’t putting in much effort to help Kauai Coffee with procuring a lease extension but rather dreaming of the rewards of over development. Ironic isn’t it?
As an 18 year resident and visitor since 1993 this is a travesty! This is off island big money exploiting for itself. Nothing much has changed has it since Cook landed on Kaua’i and claimed the islands for the British crown. My heart goes out to the many friendly faces I see when I visit the gift store. I hope something can be done from stopping this and save the Kauai Coffee farm. It truly feels like stake is being driven into the heart of Kaua’i. Thoughts and prayers.
So, for several months now, and with 3 months remaining, the race is on to see which politically connected tech billionaire will be permitted to acquire another huge chunk of Hawaii for their personal
aggrandizement.
Auwe.
Sad ā¹ļø
Just took a quick look at Brue Baukol, and what I see does not bode well for Kauai Coffee, for continuing agricultural operations on that land, for the island of Kauaāi, or for Hawaiāi. Looks like more fallout from the global land grab that started in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.
1,500 tons of green coffee is a lot of coffee to move when the lease expires.
OMG. This is devastating news. I drink Kauai Coffee Every Day! I would be so bummed. The articles that have been written by BOH concerning this, have been slanted (not the best term) toward the visitor aspect, rightfully so, since that is the reason that BOH exists…travel info. But does anyone have any input as to other coffees that compare closely to Kauai Coffee? I’ve tried numerous brands…always came back to Kauai…maybe I’m just biased for my love of the island
Having said that…that is my personal selfish take on the situation.
What about the local families and worker? It goes from the ones working the farm, gift shop, roasters, mechanics, drivers, even their insurers and the people that sell them tires for their vehicles. It’s so disappointing that could possibly be allowed to happen.
Try Ka’u Coffee from Miranda Farms.
I love Kauai Coffee also. Itās one of my favorites. You might want to try Big Island Coffee Roasters. The blend that taste similar to Kauai is āKau Morning Gloryā . This might fill the void if Kauai does go out of business. Hopefully they do not. But it doesnāt look good.