A Good Crop, Coffee Cultivation is BIG Business
Hawaii is steeped in cultural tradition and one of those traditions is cultivating fine coffee from the Kona Coffee Belt region.
It’s such a big deal for Hawaii that people gather for the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival each November, one of the big festivals on the islands.
The event includes coffee workshops, recipe and cupping contests and even a parade with marching bands, floats and more.
The reason for the big celebration is that Hawaii is one of the hot spots for coffee cultivation around the world.
“100% pure Kona coffee is a rare commodity exclusively grown in north and south Kona,” states Hawaii’s Official Tourism site. “The high elevation, constant cloud coverage, and rich volcanic soil in the upland slopes of Kona and the small town of Holualoa create an ideal environment for harvesting this unique Hawaiian coffee bean.
“There are roughly 600 coffee farms in Kona and many offer tours to the public,” the site states. While Hawaii is one hot spot for prime coffee cultivation, there are a number of other countries that rely on coffee as a top agriculture.
The coffee cultivating countries are all warmer environments including Brazil, Nicaragua, Kenya, Mexico, Honduras and Haiti. The harvesting period varies from country to country. For instance, coffee in Brazil is harvested between March and October and in Malawi it’s from December to February, according to www.coffeeresearch.org.
Another major quality coffee producing company is Jamaica, where coffee is cultivated in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. The harvesting period for the Jamaican crop takes place August and September.
Like Hawaii, the big business of cultivating coffee is highlighted during a week of coffee events.
Coffee Week is coming up in June and includes the Jamaica Coffee Festival, according to Jamaica’s tourism site www.visitjamaica.com. The site calls the country’s “Blue Mountain Coffee, one of the world’s most prized and expensive brands.”