What happens once the crop is processed?
Once the gourmet coffee crop is processed, most of the processed Kona coffee beans are bagged in 100-pound sacks and then sold on the world coffee market as gourmet green (milled, unroasted) coffee beans. Most of these green Kona coffee beans are used to add flavor to other less expensive types of coffee (e.g., coffee beans from Brazil, Africa, Indonesia, or Central America). These mixtures may then be sold as “Kona Blend,” which is a controversial subject in the Kona region as many local farmers would rather not have the gourmet Kona name tarnished by inferior coffee products.
