King Coffee Farm
While driving the winding roads of the Kona Coffee Belt it is hard not to dream of owning one of these coffee farms. What would it be like to chuck your corporate job on the mainland and buy your own bit of paradise?
Friends and neighbors, John & Randy did just that. They gave up jobs in finance and medicine in California and now operate Kona King Coffee in Captain Cook on the Big Island. I asked John to describe a day in the life as a coffee farmer.
“It is 6:23 AM at the Kona King Coffee Farm in Captain Cook, the roosters are crowing, the sun will come up in about 20 minutes and I am sipping my first cup of Kona Coffee. Today is Friday September 18 and we will be preparing for the Saturday Keauhou Farmers Market. First we will be taking inventory of our stock of Kona Coffee and roasting that which is needed to ensure a complete array for the market. In addition to Kona Coffee from our farms in Captain Cook and Honaunau on the Big Island, we are harvesting tomatoes, bananas, plantains, figs, tamarillos, cheramoya, and various cut flowers (heliconia and gingers). Our fig production is at the peak, and this fruit has become a favorite of many who shop at the market, nothing like a fresh fig. We are expecting coffee pickers to harvest coffee from the Honaunau Farm this weekend. Once this coffee pick has taken place we will need to drop everything and process the coffee.”
If this sounds interesting but brings up a thousand questions; comment or email me and I will ask John & Randy and put the answers in my next Kona Coffee Post. In the meantime, take a look at this Hawaii property gallery of Kona coffee farms currently for sale from under $200,000 to several million.
Beth Thoma Robinson
September 30, 2009
Erik, don’t forget my listing in Papa Bay would also be a great coffee farm, although when the current owners bought they took out all but a little coffee for their own use in favor of less labor-intensive crops!
Aloha
Beth
Beth Thoma Robinson
September 30, 2009
Erik, don’t forget my listing in Papa Bay would also be a great coffee farm, although when the current owners bought they took out all but a little coffee for their own use in favor of less labor-intensive crops!
Aloha
Beth