MauiGrown Coffee Reports Record Harvest

MauiGrown Coffee president, Kimo Falconer, inspects some of this year's coffee cherries. Courtesy of MauiGrown Coffee.

By Sonia Isotov

MauiGrown Coffee is reporting a record harvest this year of their Arabica coffee varieties grown at their 500-acre Kaanapali Estate, which includes portions of Ka‘anapali Coffee Farms.

This year’s harvest, which totaled in excess of 350,000 lbs of green coffee, exceeded the volume of any prior harvests. The company credits their continued focus on quality as a major contributor to the increase in cherry production.

MauiGrown Coffee is the largest individually operated coffee grower in the US and the original and only major producer of 100% Maui origin coffee in the world.

Since MauiGrown Coffee was established in 2003, the company has been working on revitalizing the coffee plants abandoned by the old Pioneer Mill Company, which closed its doors in 2001.

The cherries of MauiGrown Coffee’s four coffee varieties, Yellow Caturra, Red Catuai, Typica and Maui Mokka, have increased in size due to better nutrition received by the coffee trees over the years. The plants are much healthier and in better condition thanks to the ongoing efforts of veteran farmers and grower Kimo Falconer, president of MauiGrown Coffee, who also serves as current president of the Hawaii Coffee Growers Association.

MauiGrown coffee berries. Courtesy of MauiGrown.

“Our goal is to produce a bountiful range of unique, distinctive and high quality coffees,” said Falconer, in a written statement. “We take a seed to cup approach, from ensuring the health of our plants to continuing to improve on how we process our coffee cherries. For instance, all our cherries are now 100% fully washed versus semi-washed just one year ago, an additional processing step that has gained positive feedback from customers and cuppers.”

Maui Mokka continues to be MauiGrown Coffee’s star varietal. Last year’s Maui Mokka inventory all but sold out and customers are anticipating the release of their new 2012 crop, which just became available for sale this month. This demand is due in part to the loyal following of Hawaii, US mainland and Japanese customers, but also due to Maui Mokka’s recent entry into the European and German markets.

Japan Airlines now serves Maui Mokka coffees on all of its Japan to Hawaii flights and is looking to expand the Maui Mokka offering on all of its international routes. MauiGrown Coffee anticipates more exposure and growth for their Maui Mokka varietal in national and international markets this year.

Mokka is a coffee variety originally discovered in Yemen that dates back around 1,000 years. In addition to its unique origin, the processing method for Maui Mokka differs from other varietals. MauiGrown Coffee stores the dried cherry raisin for six months before milling the coffee. This technique is said to enhance the body and bring out the hearty plum, cherry, and dark chocolate notes and accentuate the characteristics of this particular varietal.