After months of uncertainty around the future of the country’s largest coffee grower, roughly 140 jobs at Kauai Coffee Company will be preserved through a new long-term agricultural lease.The jobs were in danger of being terminated this spring when the coffee company’s previous lease was set to expire after nearly two years of unsuccessful negotiations between Kauai Coffee’s parent company, Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group, and landowner Brue Baukol Capital Partners.“We are proud to say that our roots remain exactly where they belong, our team is entirely secure, and we are actively looking forward to bringing even more job opportunities to our local community as we grow,” said Brian Kubicki, the coffee company’s general manager, in a press release Thursday.The lease will enable Kauai Coffee to create new positions in farm technology, machinery and visitor experiences and continue its Fair Trade Community Development program, which has given $640,000 to West Side community projects.
Kauai Coffee manages 4 million coffee trees and has been operating since the late 1980s. It’s been owned by Massimo Zanetti since 2011, and BBCP, a Colorado-based investment firm, has owned the land under the farm since 2022.
