Lease negotiations over the farmland where Kauaʻi Coffee Co. operates on the island’s West Side are raising uncertainty for the company’s nearly 150 employees.
WARN notices distributed this week signal potential layoffs under federal and state requirements, which mandate at least 60 days’ notice before a mass layoff or closure. While the notices do not guarantee job losses, they indicate the possibility if operations cannot continue beyond the current lease, which expires March 28.
“We regretfully confirm that WARN notices were distributed to KCC employees starting Monday meeting our legal requirements,” Acting General Manager Brian Kubicki told Aloha State Daily. “We continue to work toward a resolution that allows us to carry on normal operations and remain willing to sign a long-term extension consistent with our current lease.”
Both Kauaʻi Coffee Co. and the landowners, Brue Baukol Capital Partners, declined to discuss any negotiating terms beyond the existing lease.
The company states it is the largest coffee grower in the United States, farming roughly 3,100 acres and managing more than 4 million coffee trees. Employees work across farming, processing, roasting, sales, and administrative roles, producing over a million pounds of green coffee annually.
The farmland Kauaʻi Coffee operates is officially designated as Important Agricultural Lands by the State of Hawaiʻi, a status meant to preserve productive farmland. The designation was secured through petitions to the Land Use Commission around 2009–2010. Important Agricultural Lands in Hawai’i include areas for diversified crops like taro, coffee, macadamia nuts, tropical fruits and aquaculture, often in former sugarcane or pineapple zones.
Examples include O’ahu’s central plain for seed and diversified crops, Kauaʻi’s Hanalei Valley taro fields, and state-managed agricultural parks on Molokai and in Pāhoa supporting small farmers.
The land has been leased by Kauaʻi Coffee Co. since the late 1980s and was acquired by Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA in 2011, which helped expand the brand nationally and internationally. In June 2022, roughly 3,700 acres used by Kauaʻi Coffee were sold to Brue Baukol Capital Partners, a Colorado-based investment firm.
Brue Baukol Capital Partners told ASD it has been negotiating in good faith for more than two years and remains focused on preserving both the employees and the agricultural use of the land. The company emphasized it has no plans for layoffs or rezoning and is committed to ensuring stability.
A spokesperson for the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations confirmed to ASD that a dislocated workers notice under Hawaiʻi law has been filed.
Kauaʻi Mayor Derek Kawakami acknowledged the uncertainty facing employees and their families. “Kauaʻi Coffee is deeply woven into our island’s agricultural heritage and local economy, and our heart is with those who are affected,” he told ASD. “While these decisions are being made between private parties, we remain hopeful that agricultural use of the land will actively continue.”
Beyond farming, Kauaʻi Coffee is also a major visitor attraction, drawing around 350,000 visitors annually to its South Shore farm for tours and tastings.
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