Demand for Hawaii's Kona coffee perks up

By Christopher Doering

HONOLULU (Reuters) - In a coffee world inundated with frothy cappuccinos and creamy lattes, more java junkies are turning to the rare and expensive Hawaiian coffee known as Kona.

U.S. demand for the bold brew, grown only on a narrow 20 mile stretch of land on the Big Island of Hawaii, has surged since the late 1990s.

Giant coffee retailer Starbucks Corp. will begin carrying the beans in its 4,176 company-owned North American stores in April after a seven-year absence; the Seattle company had been unable in recent years to arrange for sufficient supplies.

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