Kauai Coffee secures 15-year lease, easing closure fears on plantation

Kauai Coffee’s 15-year land lease was finalized June 25, ending a closure scare that had put 141 jobs at risk at the 3,100-acre plantation on Kauai’s south side. Company leaders brought the update back to the Kauai County Council on Wednesday, July 8, after months of uncertainty over whether the farm could keep operating on the land it leases from Brue Baukol Capital Partners.

On Jan. 13, Kauai Coffee sent WARN notices to 141 employees after the previous lease was set to expire at the end of March. Those notices raised the prospect that the state’s largest coffee operation could be forced to shut down if the land deal collapsed. The company’s parent, Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA, spent about two years in negotiations with Brue Baukol Capital Partners before the two sides reached the June 25 agreement.

It grows more than 4 million coffee trees across the 3,100-acre estate and is Hawaii’s largest coffee grower and the largest coffee grower in the United States. The visitor center is open year-round except Thanksgiving and Christmas Day near Koloa and Kalāheo, about 17 miles from Līhue Airport.

Wayne Katayama, Kauai Coffee’s senior advisor, said the earlier standoff had been traumatic for workers. James Priestley of Brue Baukol Capital Partners called Kauai Coffee an employer, an agricultural institution and part of the island’s identity. Brian Kubicki said Kauai Coffee belongs to the people of Kauai.

A community celebration is planned to mark the renewal, with details to come later. The new lease removes the immediate threat of effects bargaining over medical coverage, severance and transition benefits.