By Associated Press via Washington
Post
August 30, 2012
HONOLULU — A national
grocer said it has changed its label on packages of Kona coffee blends, making
good on a promise it made last year to a group of Hawaii coffee farmers.
But the Kona Coffee
Farmers Association said Thursday Last year, Safeway agreed to change the label
on Kona coffee blend products sold on the mainland to add the word “10 percent
minimum Kona blend.” That was after the association called for a boycott of the
company’s 1,700 stores nationwide because farmers believed the labels were
misleading and degraded the reputation of Hawaii’s world-famous coffee.
Safeway doesn’t sell
the coffee blend in any of its Hawaii locations, so the company wasn’t subject
to a law in the Aloha State that requires labels reflect the percentage of
Hawaii-grown coffee, which needs to be at least 10 percent for the state designation.
Instead, the state
Department of Agriculture asked Safeway to voluntarily comply with Hawaii’s
law.
The grocer, which is
based in Pleasanton, Calif., agreed and promised to begin selling 100 percent
Kona coffee in some California stores.
The Kona Coffee
Farmers Association has been watching Safeway closely for these changes. The
association said in a letter to Safeway that members have seen the old
packaging on shelves in some mainland stores and is disappointed the company
hasn’t yet started selling pure Kona coffee.
“Given the product
shelf life, packaging used before the (changes) may still exist on store
shelves or elsewhere in our distribution chain,” said a letter from Brian
Dowling, Safeway vice president of public affairs, adding that the company
doesn’t plan to destroy or dispose of those products.
Bruce Corker, a
member of the association board of directors, said, “Our people have been in
six different stores and they have yet to see the 10 percent label. All they’ve
seen is packaging that doesn’t disclose the minimum 10 percent content.”
Dowling’s letter said
that Safeway hadn’t been able to sell 100 percent Kona coffee, but still
planned to do so. He blamed the berry borer, a beetle that has destroyed coffee
crops in Kona and rocked an industry that generates $30 million in annual
sales.
“Yes, there’s a
reduction in the coffee output ... but it’s a relatively minor percentage,”
Corker said. “There is 100 percent Kona coffee available. It’s not that it
can’t be purchased.”
Safeway spokeswoman
Teena Massingill said the company is surprised by the association’s response.
Jim Wayman, president
of Hawaii Coffee Co., the state’s largest roaster of Kona coffee, said Safeway
has contacted him and tried to buy 100 percent Kona coffee since last year, but
it’s tough to supply the quantity Safeway needs and ship it from Hawaii to
California.
“I believe Safeway is
being treated unfairly by a few farmers in Kona,” he said.
The farmers’ battle
against the supermarket giant inspired a $5 million class-action lawsuit in
federal court in Northern California claiming Safeway profited off the
reputation of Kona coffee while selling an inferior product with very little
Hawaii-grown coffee.