Battle brewing on Big Isle over coffee roasting plant

By Stewart Yerton
starbulletin.com

There's a $25 million project brewing on the Big Island and the venture is not something that the local coffee industry wants to wake up with in the morning.

Albert Kam, a founder of PLK Air Services Group LLC, said the company's proposed coffee roasting and packaging center will enhance the Big Island's coffee industry, providing a market for growers and a boost to the island's heralded export.

The proposed project, to be built at Hilo Airport, also will process and package macadamia nuts for export and include a fulfillment center where PLK can process orders before sending them out on airplanes.

But many Hawaii growers, roasters and packagers say the venture is bad for the local coffee and nut business. They say the Big Island doesn't need more roasters battling for a limited supply of unroasted coffee beans. A new player the size of PLK, they say, would drive up local prices of unroasted coffee beans and macadamia kernels to unsustainable levels, leading to a painful bust in the future.

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