About

Located on the Beautiful Hamakua Coast of Hawaii

Started in 2003, Waipunalei Coffee Farm is located on the beautiful Hamakua Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. The land was previously owned by the Hamakua Sugar Company to grow sugar commercially. After purchasing the 10.2 acre land in 1992, it was mainly used as pasture land while we tried to figure out how best to use it.

I had a passion for lavender and tried unsuccessfully to grow the beautiful and aromatic plant. However, our land was simply too ‘wet’ to grow the plant commercially. Lavender requires a much drier weather and soil. There are lavender bushes scattered around the place from our original plantings.

We spotted wild coffee trees near the gulches on our land and found out that coffee was originally grown on the Hamakua Coast in the 1800’s. During that time, many farmers planted the trees to supply coffee for their own families. In fact, throughout the Hamakua Coast, wild coffee is growing along the gulches and remote valleys.

2,400 Arabica Coffee Trees; No Pesticides!
Starting with 100 trees and a fierce determination to understand everything about coffee, we proceeded to plant and produce very healthy trees without the use of pesticides. We now have over 2,400 arabica “kona typica” coffee trees. All are given individual care to ensure the production of excellent coffee cherries.

Family Owned and Operated!

Meet Dwight and Pua Tokumoto
Former educators and now farmers, Dwight and Pua handle most of the coffee operation from growing and maintaining the trees to processing the beans and packaging and distributing the final product.

During harvest, experienced coffee pickers are used to hand-pick only the ripest coffee cherries. Along with our part-time helper granddaughters, Leilani and Jasmine Pereira, we are a family-owned and operated business offering 100% Hawaiian-grown pesticide-free Hamakua Coffee.

Beaumont-Fukunaga Pruning
A unique pruning method known as the Beaumont-Fukunaga style of pruning is used throughout our farm. It requires stumping every third row of trees. This type of pruning allows a lot of extra light into the rows. Since light availability is one of the controlling factors in determining tree spacing, the trees are planted significantly closer together.

Studies demonstrate that coffee production drops off dramatically on verticals older than 3 years. It therefore makes sense to remove those verticals and allow them to be replaced with younger ones. The Beaumont – Fukunaga system actually increases coffee production over time because, even though you’re pruning away 1/3 of your crop each year, you have significantly more trees per acre with healthy and productive verticals. Proper pruning is also healthier for the plant. Coffee is a heavy producer, and by using the Beaumont – Fukunaga system of pruning you give the plant a break from producing fruit once every third year. During the year that you stump, all that plant has to do is concentrate on growing healthy verticals.

The Only Coffee Grown in the USA!
For over 100 years, coffee has been growing primarily on the Big Island. Hawaii is the only coffee-producing place in the United States. Waipunalei Coffee’s unique taste and quality has often been described as a smooth mellow and chocolately. This is attributed to several factors: high altitude, rich volcanic soil and an ideal climate that includes a canopy of clouds during the hottest times of the day, as well as the right amount of rainfall at the right times throughout the growing cycle.

Why not try a cup of delicious Waipunalei Coffee today?