Kaʻū News Briefs, Monday, August 28, 2023

CHRIS MANFREDI, A LONG TIME KAʻŪ COFFEE MARKETER, was honored by Kaʻū Coffee Growers Coop recently with a dinner and much praise at Pāhala Community Center. 

     The former land manager of thousands of acres of Kaʻū Coffee lands, pastures and property planned for

Gloria Camba, President of Kaʻū Coffee Growers Cooperative,  presents Chris Manfredi a plaque for his efforts in successfully marketing the Kaʻū brand. Photo by Julia Neal

community development said he will be spending most of his time in his home state of New York where he has two new grand babies and 88 year-old parents with whom he needs to be. He said he has also returned to the specialty car business and is working with one of the top companies in the country. He sold his own auto enterprise to his employees when he decided to focus on Kaʻū more than 20 years ago.

     Manfredi praised Kaʻū Coffee farmers for recently buying their farms from the land holder who subdivided and sold it. He reviewed plans he made with partners who bought that same land many years ago and planned a coffee mill, labor housing and covenants that would protect the views from Hwy 11 to the mountains above. The 2008 crash of the national economy took down Lehman Brothers, the lender for the project, and Manfredi and partners could not move forward. Manfredi said he had fallen in love with Kaʻū and its people and decided to throw himself into marketing the coffee for the Kaʻū growers.

     He helped the growers to enter the international Specialty Coffee Association of America contests and small farmers from Kaʻū won consistently for years, until the competition was stopped. Manfredi became a broker for Kaʻū Coffee and was able to sign contracts with such buyers as Starbucks.

     Manfredi was also a lead organizer of Kaʻū Coffee Festival and reminded the farmers of the Coffee College he produced each year at the end of the festival to help further farmer education.

    He also helped relaunch the Hawai'i Farm Bureau in Kaʻū, became President of the statewide Hawai'i Farm Bureau, and President and Executive Director of Hawai'i Coffee Growers Association. With his move to spend most time with family in New York, he stepped down from the Hawai'i Coffee Association earlier this year.

Kaʻū Coffee Growers Cooperative held an appreciation event for Kaʻū coffee marketer Chris Manfredi  who is leaving his Kaʻū home to be with family in New York. Photo by Julia Neal

     Kaʻū Coffee farmer Lorie Obra said she remembered the day her late husband Rusty Obra first met Manfredi and came home to tell her that the farmers have found someone who can really market their coffee as its own Kaʻū brand, rather than selling it all to Kona. Gloria Camba, President of Kaʻū Coffee Growers Coop, thanked Manfredi for all the work he did to build the brand. Willie Tabios, also an award winning Kaʻū Coffee farmer, praised Manfredi for the contributions to the growth of the local industry.

     Manfredi encouraged the coffee farmers to stay strong in refraining from selling to Kona, and to protect the quality of Kaʻū Coffee to retain its reputation as a high quality specialty coffee. He said he is also proud of his support of traceability testing that is now available to determine coffee origin in order to prevent sales of counterfeit Kaʻū Coffee and to maintain its integrity.

     He said he is not completely out of the Kaʻū Coffee industry and invited anyone with questions, ideas and wanting to talk story to contact him at cmanfredi@kaufarmandranch.com. He said he owns land in Kaʻū and may be seen in the future in a rocking chair on the deck, looking at the ocean.


COUNTY OF HAWAI'I CIVIL DEFENSE has issued a Coastal Flooding Statement for the entire Island of Hawai'i for low-lying coastal areas due to higher than normal tides through Thursday. Civil Defense advises:
     Flooding of beaches and minor coastal erosion can occur.
     Secure all property and ocean craft.
     For more information, visit the County of Hawaii Hazard Impact Map.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR ALL OF KA'U into Volcano, from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday afternoon. National Weather Service predicts trades 15 to 30 mph, with gusts 40 to 45 mph. Strongest gusts are expected to be "downward of the terrain.

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AFTER DARK IN THE PARK at Kilauea Visitor Center is cancelled for Tuesday evening due to a leak in the visitor center auditorium ceiling. The presentation was to be Nani o Kahuku, about a day on historic Kahuku Ranch, adapted by Jackie Pualani-Johnson directly from the diary of Hannah (Nani) Piʻilani Jones. Nani, portrayed by actress Alya-Joy Kanehailua. Jones was the eleventh and second-to-youngest child of George W.C. Jones, who owned Kahuku Ranch from 1871 to 1887. 

    The play is expected to be rescheduled.