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| More than 4,500 attended the ninth annual Ka`u Coffee Festival, according to organizers who are wrapping up the three weeks of activities. Photo by Jesse Tunison/Ka`u Coffee Fest |
KA`U COFFEE FESTIVAL ORGANIZERS have come up with some results of their three weeks of celebrating and promoting the local industry. The ninth annual Ka‘ū Coffee Festival drew some 4,500 people to its Ho‘olaule‘a May 27, at Pahala Community Center, making it the best year to date. The day saw a wide range of activities, from coffee tasting to hula to music, a $1,000 award going to Pahala resident Dennis Salmo for the Buy Local, It Matters program, and a live goat going to Reggie Hashimoto, of BEI chemicals and fertilizers. He turned the goat over to coffee farmers who killed and ate it the next day.
Throughout the Ho`olaulea day Miss Ka`u Coffee Jami Beck and her court met with visitors and local residents to talk about Ka`u Coffee.
Ka`u Coffee Festival also provided an opportunity for nonprofit organizations to raise funds by selling food and refreshments. It was a place where artists, entertainers and crafters could extend their reach.
Julia Neal, who organizes the entertainment with support from Olson Trust, said, “It’s amazing each year how many talented people want to support the Ka‘ū Coffee Festival by sharing their music and their dance and bringing their friends and families to the event. In the early years, they performed for an hour. Now there are so many that each group fits into only about a half hour. The entertainment begs for a second stage or a longer day to accommodate all who support the Ka‘ū Coffee farmers.”
See more at www.kaucoffeefest.com with photos and stories and links to social media.
Ka`u Coffee farmers meet this Tuesday to plan for next year's tenth annual Ka`u Coffee Festival.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter
Throughout the Ho`olaulea day Miss Ka`u Coffee Jami Beck and her court met with visitors and local residents to talk about Ka`u Coffee.
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| The Buy Local, It Matters drawing netted Pahala resident Dennis Salmo $1,000. Photo by Jesse Tunison/Ka`u Coffee Fest |
Chief organizer Chris Manfredi said, “The 2017 Ka‘ū Coffee Festival enjoyed the highest attendance in our nine-year history with more than 4,500 attendees plus 70 vendors – an increase of more than 500 attendees and 15 vendors over 2016. He said that the Ka‘ū Coffee College, held last Sunday, “was particularly successful, with more than 50 attendees, another high water mark. There were educational discussions focused on increasing efficiencies and improving quality, and the growers really drank it up!
“There was a discussion on breeding flat bark beetles as a biocontrol to combat coffee berry borer and another on the science behind fermentation. At the conclusion of the classroom sessions we travelled to a local farm for a live demonstration of wet-milling on Penagos wet milling equipment.”
That farm is in Wood Valley and owned by Miles Mayne, who welcomed farmers to see its transition from McCall’s Flower Farm to Ka‘ū Coffee.
“There was a discussion on breeding flat bark beetles as a biocontrol to combat coffee berry borer and another on the science behind fermentation. At the conclusion of the classroom sessions we travelled to a local farm for a live demonstration of wet-milling on Penagos wet milling equipment.”
That farm is in Wood Valley and owned by Miles Mayne, who welcomed farmers to see its transition from McCall’s Flower Farm to Ka‘ū Coffee.
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| Miss Ka`u Coffee Jami Beck at the Ho`olaulea. Photo by Jesse Tunison/Ka`u Coffee Fest |
Said Manfredi, “I am thrilled by the remarkable level of engagement and the large number of participants. And if that wasn’t enough, the Penagos representative conducted a second classroom session to demonstrate detailed set-up and maintenance of their wet mills, and three days more of visits to area farms for individual meetings to fine-tune the machines already in use in Ka‘ū.”
Manfredi, who sells Ka‘ū Coffee to Starbucks and has been introducing Starbucks representatives to Ka`u farmers, said, “The festival has evolved to include not only a celebration of the outstanding quality of Ka‘ū coffee and the remarkable people and special place that produces it, but an open forum for learning and sharing of information. This education will have the net effect of widening the profit margins for growers, putting more money in their pockets and providing more resources for their families. We’re also seeing an increase in the number of young people getting involved, not only in the festival, but in the broader industry. This bodes very well for the sustainability and resiliency of the Ka‘ū coffee industry. I could not be more happy with the results of this festival."
Manfredi, who sells Ka‘ū Coffee to Starbucks and has been introducing Starbucks representatives to Ka`u farmers, said, “The festival has evolved to include not only a celebration of the outstanding quality of Ka‘ū coffee and the remarkable people and special place that produces it, but an open forum for learning and sharing of information. This education will have the net effect of widening the profit margins for growers, putting more money in their pockets and providing more resources for their families. We’re also seeing an increase in the number of young people getting involved, not only in the festival, but in the broader industry. This bodes very well for the sustainability and resiliency of the Ka‘ū coffee industry. I could not be more happy with the results of this festival."
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| Chief Coffee Fest organizer Chris Manfredi. See his interview at www.bigislandvideonews.com |
Ka`u Coffee Festival also provided an opportunity for nonprofit organizations to raise funds by selling food and refreshments. It was a place where artists, entertainers and crafters could extend their reach.
Julia Neal, who organizes the entertainment with support from Olson Trust, said, “It’s amazing each year how many talented people want to support the Ka‘ū Coffee Festival by sharing their music and their dance and bringing their friends and families to the event. In the early years, they performed for an hour. Now there are so many that each group fits into only about a half hour. The entertainment begs for a second stage or a longer day to accommodate all who support the Ka‘ū Coffee farmers.”
See more at www.kaucoffeefest.com with photos and stories and links to social media.
Ka`u Coffee farmers meet this Tuesday to plan for next year's tenth annual Ka`u Coffee Festival.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter
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| DD Davis with Gov. David Ige. Photo from County Office of Aging |
According to the Hawai`i County Director of the Office of Aging, Kimo Alameda, Davis accepted her award with pride and humor, "saying that she has never won anything in her life except for dinner tickets at a restaurant which ended up closing before she could and redeem it."
Davis has held offices with various community groups in Ka`u and is an artist and author.
She lives with her daughter Kerry Pitcher, son-in-law Alan Morse and grandson Kyle Pitcher in Pahala.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter
Ka‘ū Coffee Growers Meeting, Tue, June 6, 6 – 8 p.m., Pāhala Community Center.
I, Mosquito: Our Changing World, Tue, June 6, 7 p.m., Kīlauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. USGS Research Biologist Dennis LaPointe, Ph.D. explains the life cycle of one of the planet’s most maligned insects. While sharing information from recent wildlife studies here in Hawai‘i and sobering projections of the future, LaPointe offers practical advice and innovative adaptive strategies for coping with our changing world. Free; park entrance fees apply.
Open Mic Night, Wed, June 7, 6 – 10 p.m., Kīlauea Military Camp’s Lava Lounge in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Call 967-8365 after 4 p.m. to sign up and for more details. Park entrance fees apply.
Open Mic Night, Wed, June 7, 6 – 10 p.m., Kīlauea Military Camp’s Lava Lounge in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Call 967-8365 after 4 p.m. to sign up and for more details. Park entrance fees apply.
