Respected SCAA Founder Urges Action from Governor Lingle

March 12, 2008

Governor Linda Lingle
Hawaii State Capital
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96813


Dear Governor,

Kona coffee needs your help. Kona is, one of the richest coffees in
the world, both in taste quality and the price it brings in the
marketplace. It is sad that so much coffee bought by consumers as
Kona, is in fact only a blend of second rate coffee into which is
mixed only10% Kona beans.

The average consumer palate can not distinguish a blend component of 10% in a blend of coffee. This means the Kona in Kona blend is lost
to the consumer. 10% Kona blend tastes about the same as any
acceptable blend made from Central or South American coffee. The only thing that distinguishes it is its fancy Kona blend label and its
fancy price.

Our sixteenth President said, "You can fool some of the people all of
the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool
all of the people all of the time." Mr. Lincoln might have been
talking about Kona blend coffee for the brand suffers in trade on the
mainland and in opening new markets for American goods, by being
disappointing more often that it is pleasing to the consumer's level
of expectation. When this happens repeat sales are lost. Kona blend,
as it now is prepared, may be a great tourist attraction. It is not a great coffee. For Kona blend to break away from the stereotype of
overpriced nicely packaged tourist trade goods and take its place at
the coffee table on the mainland and internationally it requires for
this body to take action in its defense.

Kona coffee farmers should be held in the same level of respect in
Hawaii as are growers of Cabernet in the Napa Valley. Kona Farmers
bring honor to the State of Hawaii, and the country through their
efforts at bringing to market one of the world's great coffees. At
the same time they lack the political sophistication and economic
clout of California wine growers so their efforts are often
overlooked. Their work and their produce is no less worthy of your
attention and support than are the California wine farmers worthy of
the substantial support that their state brings to the defense of
California regional reds.

In Hawaii, the state Department of Agriculture has directed the Kona
Farmers Association (fighting for recognition of 100% Kona coffee
through the distribution of an educational video) to, "remove the Get
Real! DVD from any and all distribution and cease its use in the
promotion of 100% Kona Coffee".

As a lover of great coffee, and a life-long student of the US coffee
industry I am saddened that a state Department can be so confused by
the slight-of-hand that they have witnessed that they lose perspective
and can no longer tell the difference between those who are fighting
for the state's produce and honor and those who are solely protecting
their own narrow economic interests with the use of overwhelming
economic and political leverage.

I ask you, humbly, to support the Kona Coffee Farmers Association as a step toward bringing to Kona, America's "Gran cru" coffee the
executive support it needs to help it move out of the shadows of its
damaged reputation to the level of respect it deserves. These small
farmers and their coffee are a national treasure. They have no one on
their side in their ongoing struggle to bring a very special product
to the world in its pure delicious form. Please lift them up, and
protect them from the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, who may be
well meaning, but are misguided in their directive.

Thank you.


Sincerely,

Donald N. Schoenholt




ABOUT THE WRITER


Gillies Coffee Company
America's Oldest Coffee Merchant
P.O. Box 320206
150 19th Street
Brooklyn New York 11232.

PH: 718-499-7766
FX: 718-499-7771
E: i840coffee@gilliescoffee.com

Mr. Schoenholt has forty-three (45) years experience as a cupper, and
roaster of fine coffee. He is Founding Father of both Specialty
Coffee Association of America (SCAA) the world's, largest coffee trade
group, and Roasters Guild an association of craftspeople celebrating
the art of coffee roasting. Mr. Schoenholt is a Charter Member of the
SCAA Green Coffee Arbitration Panel, and has served over 25-years as
Gourmet/Specialty Editor at Tea & Coffee Trade Journal the most
influential magazine serving the international Coffee and tea
community since 1902. Donald also serves on the advisory board of
Roast Magazine. Mr. Schoenholt has served as a Judge at the Kona
Coffee Cupping Competition, of the Kona Coffee Festival. He is
repeatedly singled out by peers and coffee industry watchers as being
an exemplar of specialty coffee ideals. He is the 2007 SCAA Lifetime
Achievement Award designee. Learn more about Donald Schoenholt at: www.gilliescoffee.com or by doing a web search of "Schoenholt" and/or "Gillies Coffee".

The Kona Coffee Farmers Association is a volunteer, non-profit, community-based organization of coffee farmers with the mission to promote and protect the economic interests of Kona coffee farmers who grow and sell 100% Kona coffee and to seek greater legal protection of the Kona coffee name.

First Mountain Regional Barista Competition

Jon Lewis delivers peak performance at SCAA's First Mountain Regional Barista Competition

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Barista Earns Title as Region’s Best Barista, but Runner-Up Nolan Dutton will Compete in 2008 United States Barista Championship

Jon Lewis from Long Story Short Coffee dazzled judges on his way to an award-winning performance at the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s (SCAA) Mountain Regional Barista Competition (MRBC) – hosted by Allegro Coffee Company – last Sunday in the Denver suburb of Thornton, Colo. In a hotly contested event, the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho barista outperformed 26 of the top baristas from throughout Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming to earn the title of the region’s best barista.

However, while he qualifies for the 2008 United States Barista Championship (USBC), May 2-5 in Minneapolis, Lewis will forgo entering the event because of the impending birth of his child around that same time. Instead, event runner-up, Nolan Dutton – of Conscious Coffees in nearby Boulder, Colo. – will enter the nation’s premier barista competition, which coincides with SCAA’s 20th Annual & Exhibition. Dutton’s USBC travel and lodging expenses will be covered by event host, Allegro Coffee Company. Heidi Bickelhaudt from nearby Trident Café in Boulder was the MRBC’s third-place finisher.


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Kona Coffee Farmers Association Movie Controversy

An issue has arisen with the KCFA DVD that I need to share with you, our members.

We have received a letter from the Hawaii Department of Agriculture which "directs the KCFA to remove the Get Real! DVD from any and all distribution and cease its use in the promotion of 100% Kona Coffee".

They now state that "The DVD is not consistent with the HDOA mission to locally, nationally, and internationally promote a positive image of all of Hawaii's agriculture."

They are of course referring to the fact that the KCFA DVD asks people to buy only 100% Kona, and specifically alerts them to look at the labels to make sure they are not getting a 10% blend by mistake. The KCFA DVD pans across a publicly sold selection of 10% Kona blend packages of many different companies (all that were on offer at Long's Drugs on one day). The KCFA does not acknowledge that a product of 90% foreign coffee is "Hawaiian agriculture".

This "cease and desist" directive needs to be responded to, as the implications could be widespread, not just in that we, in collaboration with the HDoA, spent a lot of money to have a DVD for sale and for promotion of 100% Kona coffee, but in that the DVD is now in wide circulation, having been sold to members, sent free to coffee customers, handed out to press, shown at our events, etc., including being shown on YouTube since early February.

Copies of the DVD and request for payment of the grant monies were submitted in November 2007. Approval of the DVD and payment of the grant monies by HDoA was made in December. Bulk copies of the DVD arrived in early January and distribution commenced. The directive to cease and desist is dated February 22, 2008.

As Sandra, our Grant Committee chairperson, reported to the February Board Meeting, she had heard from the HDoA informally in mid-February that the HDoA now had concerns, and in the spirit of cooperation voluntarily ceased all distribution of the DVD and has been discussing with the Market Development Branch there how we can make changes to the DVD so that it will be acceptable to them (by re-shooting, for example, scenes of real 10% Kona blend packages with generic brown bags saying 10% Kona blend). However the HDoA chose to ignore our offers, and instead sent us the "cease and desist" letter.

I will be calling a Special Board Meeting to determine how to respond to this letter. Current KCFA members are welcome to attend, and I will send out a notice as soon as the time and place has been determined.

If you have not yet seen the KCFA DVD, (in the spirit of cooperation we continue to not distribute it at this time), to inform yourselves, you may view it in the public domain at YouTube

aloha
Bruce Corker - President KCFA
corkclan@msn.com

Robert's note: KCFA is not distributing the movie, but we are so here it is:

Starbucks getting it right

It came to my attention the other day that Starbucks, the largest coffee shop chain the world, has not been getting it "right" lately. Just take a look at the miserable performance of their stock over the past year if you think Starbucks has their act together.



Steve Shultz has returned to set Starbucks on the right track (or put it back on the track). The question is still open; will they get it right?