Kona Coffee Association Urges Grower Collaboration and Stewardship for 2026

The Kona Coffee Farmers Association (KCFA) opened 2026 with a newsletter urging the island’s coffee community to coordinate more closely on stewardship and resilience. The association’s message emphasized soil building, cover crops, integration of native plants and long-term orchard planning as central to sustaining the Kona coffee brand and farm incomes.

Practical management advice leads the newsletter, with items on soil-building practices, cover crops, pruning recommendations and pest management tactics. KCFA encouraged partnerships with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and other conservation programs to support on-farm improvements, signaling a push to align growers with federal and state technical assistance and potential cost-share funding streams.

The newsletter also serves as an events bulletin for the season. A Coffee Pruning Workshop is scheduled for the morning of Jan. 24 in Kainaliu, and KCFA listed a series of 2026 coffee orchard webinars aimed at technical skills and production planning. The association outlined topics planned for the Kona Coffee Symposium on Feb. 24, which will bring growers, researchers and industry stakeholders together to discuss production trends and market strategies.

On industry developments, KCFA flagged recent trends and an acquisition item affecting local supply chains, and it noted an investor lawsuit tied to the failed Kona Hills coffee project. The mention of legal action underscores financial and reputational risks tied to larger-scale investments in the local coffee sector, and may influence investor appetite and due diligence among buyers and lenders.

A key policy element in the newsletter is an invitation to participate in a statewide Hawaiʻi Coffee Industry Survey coordinated by the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture & Biosecurity, UH Mānoa CTAHR and partner associations. Participation in that survey will feed data into state-level planning and could affect allocation of extension resources, research priorities and conservation funding that directly affect smallholders and estate operations on the Big Island.

For Big Island growers and community members, the newsletter bundles technical guidance with access to events and policymaking channels. Greater uptake of soil-health practices and coordinated engagement with state programs could improve long-term yields and quality, helping maintain Kona’s premium position in global markets. Growers are encouraged to take part in the survey and attend the scheduled workshops and symposium to influence planning and access available resources.