History of Kauai Coffee

Kauai Coffee Company began in the early 1800s as McBryde Sugar Company, one of the first sugar growers in Hawaii. Today, we are part of Alexander & Baldwin. The transformation from McBryde to Kauai Coffee Company in 1987 was Hawaii's largest diversified agricultural project in the past 50 years!

That was the year the first coffee tree were planted. The limited plantation, an Alexander and Baldwin subsidiary, was a joint venture between McBryde, the grower/processer, and Hills Brothers, the roaster/marketer.

The venture experienced a severe set-back in 1992, when Hurricane Iniki inflicted $8.5 million in damages to the coffee crop. The following year, Nestle Beverage Company (Hills Brothers's successor) withdrew from the project. The future of Kauai Coffee, and indeed all Kauai, looked bleak.

In 1995, the decision was made to phase out sugar at McBryde, but to continue the coffee operation. That was a wise decision. The following year, in 1996, for the first time ever, the Kauai coffee harvest exceeded the volume produced by the entire Big Island Kona region! And, as they say, since then the rest is history!