A bill that would have set tighter limits on using Hawaii location names to sell coffee cleared now requests the state study the impacts of such a move.
House Bill 1517, which would have require coffee blend labels to disclose geographic and regional origins and percentage by weight of the blended coffees, passed its final joint committee hearing before Ways and Means and Commerce and Consumer Protection Friday, albeit gutted and replaced with a request for a study.
The amended version of the bill, passed March 21 by the Senate committees on Agriculture and Environment and Energy, Economic Development and Tourism, calls for the department of Budget and Finance to conduct a study to assess the economic impact on the local coffee industry from potential changes to coffee labeling requirements.
“The department of budget and finance shall consult with the Department of aAriculture and stakeholders in the coffee industry to establish the protocols to be used and factors to be addressed in the study which would be completed by Jan. 1, 2024,” the amended bill read.
But Rep. Nicole Lowen, D-North Kona remains hopeful the language could be reinstated once the bill heads to conference. The passage of the bill by its final assigned Senate committee is the farthest the measure has made it to date. In 2019, a similar measure, also gutted and replaced with a study, was deffered by its final committee.
“At least it is moving forward on to conference where there will be a chance to negotiate and potentially get it amended back,” she said. “But moving in to conference is the furthest it has gotten. Having it get to conference gives us a fighting chance to get what we want.”
On Friday, the Senate Ways and Means and Commerce and Consumer Protection committees advanced the bill with amendments, which now heads to the full Senate.
In written testimony, the Department of Budget and Finance stated it “strongly believes that it is not the appropriate agency to conduct an economic impact study of potential changes to coffee labeling requirements on the local coffee industry.”
The original measure, introduced by Lowen would have prohibited using geographic origins of coffee in labeling or advertising for roasted or instant coffee that contains less than a certain percentage of coffee by weight from that geographic origin, phased in to a minimum of 51%.
An overwhelming majority of testifiers supported the bill in its original language.
It further would have disallow use of the term “All Hawaiian” in labeling or advertising for roasted or instant coffee not produced entirely from green coffee beans grown in Hawaii. Funds for the state’s pesticides subsidy program are also tacked on.
Currently, state law allows distributors to use Hawaii names, such as Kona or Ka‘u, on products that include as little as 10% of coffee from the named region.
Hawaiian coffee is the state’s second highest value agriculture crop, second to seed crops.
In 2021-22, the value of the 26.7 million pounds of coffee cherry produced was $60.05 million, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service coffee report released Jan. 21.
Green coffee, which is beans that have been milled but not roasted, commanded $21.70 per pound, putting the value of the industry at over $113 million.
Post-roast, Kona coffee sells on the Big Island around $40 to $45 per pound.
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, coffee utilized production was up 17% from last season with a forecast of 26.7 million pounds of cherry for the 2021-22 season. Bearing acreage totaled 7,100 acres, up 300 acres from the previous year, with an average yield at 3,820 pounds of cherry per acre, up 310 pounds.
The 2021-22 value was up from $48.38 million in 2020-21 and $54.3 million in 2019-20.
Hawaii remains the largest producer of coffee in the United States. Producers grow coffee in each county of the state that yields distinct flavors of coffee because of variations in climate, cultivation, harvesting and processing.
The 2017 Census of Agriculture, which is conducted every five years, showed the majority of coffee farms were located on the Big Island, though thriving industries have developed on Maui, Kauai and Oahu.
Of the estimated 9,300 acres of coffee planted in Hawaii, including bearing and non-bearing acreage, 5,491 acres were located on Hawaii Island. Further, approximately 1,343 of the state’s 1,577 coffee farms were located on the Orchid Isle.