After hearing from dozens of testifiers mostly supporting the measure, Hawaii County Council on Wednesday unanimously passed a nonbinding resolution asking the state Legislature to tighten labeling requirements for coffee.
After hearing from dozens of testifiers mostly supporting the measure, Hawaii County Council on Wednesday unanimously passed a nonbinding resolution asking the state Legislature to tighten labeling requirements for coffee.
Resolution 501, 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 the coffee inside. For example, Ford said, on a 10 percent Kona coffee blend, the package must say 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.
“It doesn’t prohibit the blending of coffee,” said Louise Hanna of Kona Coffee Farms, testifying in favor of the resolution. “It simply requires honest disclosure of what is in the bag.”
Coffee labeling bills are regularly introduced in the state Legislature, but none has recently been passed. Ford hopes a resolution from the council well before the Legislature begins its regular session in January will help persuade the state body to move a bill forward.
“Other states, other countries protect their farmers, by saying if you’re going to blend, then you’ve got to disclose,” Ford said at a hearing earlier this month. “But not in Hawaii. Every other agricultural crop in Hawaii is protected in that manner, except for Hawaii-grown coffee.”
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.