140 Kauai Coffee Jobs Saved Through New Land Lease Agreement

After months of uncertainty around the future of the country’s largest coffee grower, roughly 140 jobs at Kauai Coffee Company will be preserved through a new long-term agricultural lease.

The jobs were in danger of being terminated this spring when the coffee company’s previous lease was set to expire after nearly two years of unsuccessful negotiations between Kauai Coffee’s parent company, Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group, and landowner Brue Baukol Capital Partners.

“We are proud to say that our roots remain exactly where they belong, our team is entirely secure, and we are actively looking forward to bringing even more job opportunities to our local community as we grow,” said Brian Kubicki, the coffee company’s general manager, in a press release Thursday.

The lease will enable Kauai Coffee to create new positions in farm technology, machinery and visitor experiences and continue its Fair Trade Community Development program, which has given $640,000 to West Side community projects.

Kauai Coffee manages 4 million coffee trees and has been operating since the late 1980s. It’s been owned by Massimo Zanetti since 2011, and BBCP, a Colorado-based investment firm, has owned the land under the farm since 2022.

In a press release, BBCP said the renewed lease underscores a shared commitment to responsibly stewarding 3,100 acres designated as Important Agricultural Lands and provides flexibility to look into whether unused portions of the property could be put into other agricultural production.

“We are excited about the future of Kauai Coffee and proud to support the continued growth of one of Hawaiʻi’s most iconic agricultural brands,” said James Priestley, BBCP vice president, in the release.

In January, Kauai Coffee notified state and county officials that it would permanently cease all operations and lay off 136 employees between March 14 and March 28.

The company’s uncertain future drew concerns from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142, which represents about half of the company’s employees, as well as from Kaua‘i County Council Chair Mel Rapozo, who asked that the company brief the council on its situation.

During a January council meeting, Wayne Katayama, a senior adviser with Kauai Coffee, said that 30% of his employees have been with the company for over 10 years. Three have been with the company for 50 years.

“All our employees are in the communities,” Katayama said at the January meeting. “You’re probably related to some of them, you probably are friends with some of them, you know their families, and, certainly, you’ve come into contact with them through their community outreach.”

Rapozo, who earlier in the year met with Kauai Coffee and BBCP in multiple meetings, said Thursday that he’s happy the two entities were able to work out an agreement because it would have been a huge loss if the coffee farm stopped operating.

“This just shows that if the goal is to benefit the community, then people can come to agreement,” he said. “They were both able to do what they needed to do to make sure that the community benefited.”

This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.