COFFEE BEANS & HOPE: Furthering climate resiliency and soil health one bean at a time
Sara Stover for BeeBoys.org
A Ka’u coffee grower, mill, and roastery, Rusty's Hawaiian Coffee is part of a group of local farmers committed to building up Hawai’i’s ecosystem so it becomes whole, and healthier than how we found it. And Rusty’s Hawaiian’s story is one of heart, hard work, and hope.
A Dream Calls
Sometimes a dream calls to you in the middle of a coffee field. The movement and sounds around you freeze and mute. That’s how it was for the founders of Rusty’s Hawaiian Coffee, Lorie and Rusty Obra, with the coffee bean.
The year was 1998, and Rusty had received an early retirement offer from his company, which he accepted. For years the Obra’s son and daughter had been listening to their parents dream out loud about what they would do upon retirement.
“We’re going to open a gas station in Pahala!” they would declare, referring to a town on Hawai’i Island that Rusty’s parents had moved to in the 1980s.
“We’re going to start a bed and breakfast!” they’d exclaim upon returning home to the Garden State after one of their many visits to Pahala. The specifics of what they would do should they move to Hawai’i were yet to be established. It didn’t matter. Drawn to the small-town atmosphere of Pahala, HI, Lorie and Rusty were determined to retire there.
At that time, Pahala in the Ka’u District of Hawai’i was still a bustling sugar industry hub, with C. Brewer & Co.’s Pahala sugar mill at the core of it. When the sugar mill closed in 1996 after 135 years as the town’s major employer, the Obra’s were undaunted by this unfortunate development.
Two years later, Lorie, who had spent her professional life as a medical technologist and Rusty, freshly retired from his career as a chemist, stood on a farm in Hawai’i, gazing out at a dream on the horizon. After working in laboratories for their entire professional careers, the couple found themselves on a mountainside above Pahala, taking in a vista that couldn’t be further from New Jersey.
What they saw before them were lush valleys and aerial views of a village that had been built around the sugarcane mill. When the mill closed, the hardworking town’s people were left without jobs. What they did have was heart, creativity, and experience in farming. Soon, Pahala’s residents had transformed the abandoned sugarcane fields into small coffee farms.
A Spirit Born of Heart and Hope
The Obra’s looked out at what had once been thriving sugarcane fields while a former sugar mill worker and fledgling farmer talked about the soil and the weather, pointing at his trees. The farmer’s voice faded away as Rusty and Lorie locked eyes. Without saying a word, they knew what they had come to the southernmost district of Hawai’i for. Rusty and Lorie were going to grow Ka’u Coffee! And they would reveal their exciting plan to their son and daughter as soon as they returned to New Jersey.
“You know literally nothing about farming!” was the response of the Obra’s daughter, Joan and son, Rusty Jr. “Not only that, but you don’t even drink coffee. You guys are green tea drinkers!
But Rusty and Lorie had made up their minds. After all, if sugarcane fields could be transformed into coffee farms, why couldn’t a couple who had spent their lives in a laboratory transform into farmers?
Perhaps it was more than the small-town charm and the breath-taking scenery that drew the Obra’s to the Ka’u District. Perhaps it was the spirit of transformation itself. One that Kau’s people already possessed. A spirit born of heart and hope!
After C. Brewer & Co. pulled out of Pahala, 6,000 acres of the sugar plantation was purchased by Chris Manfredi and investment partners. While much of that acreage became a working cattle-ranch, a small parcel of land was leased to farmers, including the Obra family.
It wasn’t long before the Obra’s had sold the family home in New Jersey and were settling in on Hawai’i Island. Their days were spent clearing the land and planting the trees, tending to them just like the other fledgling farmers.
Despite their heart and hard work, putting a shovel into the ground and caring for the coffee trees wasn’t enough to overcome a problem that the couple had not foreseen: The market for Ka’u Coffee was non-existent.
Consumers wanted the legendary coffee beans of Kona, and Ka’u Coffee struggled to grow in the shadows of the coffee giant. Most coffee enthusiasts didn’t know where Ka’u was and they certainly hadn’t heard of Ka’u Coffee.
The Obra’s found it increasingly challenging to sell their coffee, so Rusty got creative, just as the mill workers had when faced with trials. He began networking with state and federal government officials. He researched training opportunities for Ka’u Coffee farmers. And he reached out for marketing support.
Caring for the Dreams Rusty Planted
“Many times, we talk ourselves out of pursuing a vision,” Joan reflects. “We don't have the proper training. We don't have every step figured out before we start. And when the going gets tough, we're scared to continue.”
She goes on to explain that once we know our "why" in our head and our heart, the "how" shows up to meet us. And so it was in Ka'u.
The market’s condition was weak in the early days of Ka’u Coffee, and grower Willie Tabios was on the brink of giving up his field. Rusty, however, convinced Willie to hang in there, promising that Ka'u Coffee would soon become famous. Rusty was making headway in his networking, marketing, and research efforts.
Then tragedy struck.
In 2006, Rusty passed away. Willie went on to join the winners’ circle of the largest international coffee competition, but Rusty would never witness that victory. Neither did he see the governmental assistance that flowed in after his death, or meet the pivotal specialty-coffee industry leaders who helped train Ka’u's fledgling farmers and bought their coffee.
“Mom, can you handle the manual labor associated with a farm, a mill, and a roastery by yourself?” Rusty Jr. and Joan asked, understandably concerned. “You can hire help, but can you run this operation by yourself?”
Lorie admitted to her son and daughter that she had no idea if she could. “But I do know this,” she continued. “The only thing that gets me up in the morning are those trees on that mountainside that your father planted. They need somebody to take care of them. And that’s why I get out of bed every day.”
Although sole management of the farm was overwhelming, uncertain, and an enormous risk, Lorie was committed to remaining in Hawai’i and attempting to grow the coffee and the dream that Rusty had planted. She devoted their farm, mill, and roastery to artisanal quality, and her determination captured the attention of some of the leading minds in the specialty-coffee industry. After consulting with the experts and much experimentation, Rusty’s Hawaiian was well on its way to becoming one of the world’s top coffee producers.
Joan, along with her husband Ralph, eventually joined Lorie in Hawai’i, intent on learning to make exceptional coffee. But the couple made a far more important discovery: They learned to believe in themselves, push past fear, and find joy in difficult circumstances. At some point, Ralph and Joan stopped repeating Rusty’s advice to themselves and made his words their own.
“My parents were tea drinkers who had no farming experience, but they moved to Hawai’i anyway,” says Joan. “And after Dad died, Mom’s perseverance enabled her to make some of the best coffee in the world. When you drink our coffee, let it be a powerful, tangible reminder of what’s possible when you believe in yourself.”
Rusty never was able to celebrate with Lorie when Rusty’s coffees won Hawaii's state cupping competition twice, or when she joined the winners' circle of the international coffee competition a mere five years after Willie had. Rusty’s Hawaiian has won multiple honors for both producing and roasting coffee, and every award that is won is a tribute to one man’s vision of making Ka’u Coffee famous across the globe.
A vision that was much bigger than beating the odds for victory’s sake. Rusty desired to turn Ka’u into a celebrated coffee region to help the community succeed in transforming its failed sugar plantations into an enclave of successful small entrepreneurs.
"The sugarcane industry had just pulled out and there were all these sugarcane workers who were trying to rejump the economy in Ka’u," says Joan. "And that was why Dad wanted Ka’u Coffee to be the highest quality. Not necessarily so that we could win awards, but so that he could help the entire region lift itself up again."
Cheers to Climate Resiliency
Coffee from the region of Ka'u has a flavor all its own. The high elevation contributes to the sweet taste of the coffee that is grown and roasted here. So does its history.
Kau’ Coffee growers believe that it’s not just the soil, climate, and varietals that make the district's coffee unique... and worth a taste. It’s the meticulousness of the farmers and the passion they put into everything from picking the coffee to processing and storing it.
Coffee is the reason growers like Lorie get out of bed in the morning, and that purpose flavors every cup of Ka’u Coffee.
Today, Rusty’s Hawaiian now showcases distinguished coffee beans from multiple Hawaiian regions. Lorie is the current owner of Rusty's and the inspiring business leader behind a series of innovative steps being taken in the farming community of Ka’u.
Rusty Jr., Joan, and Ralph share in Lorie’s work, and have continued to put their father’s spirit of community into practice by joining a small but growing list of coffee growers that have unified to form a nonprofit agricultural cooperative called the United Ka'u Farmers Cooperative. UKFC was recently awarded a grant to conduct a study with soil scientist Melanie Willich of The Kohala Center. With the goal of making coffee farms more resilient to climate change, the project will study various ground covers to learn which ones best improve soil nutrients and prevent soil erosion.
As members of the co-op, Rusty’s is involved in this sustainable-farming project, which will include planting and studying three different types of ground cover (stylo, perennial peanut, and cowpea) on five Ka’u coffee farms. The study will explore the potential each ground cover has for enhancing soil fertility and retaining soil moisture, both of which are critical during this time of climate change. As each of the five coffee farms has a different microclimate, the study will reveal which ground covers are best suited for each distinct farming environment.
UKFC is also installing five weather stations at these farms and making the data available to the public. This will give policymakers, meteorologists, other farmers, and anyone who would find the weather data beneficial access to it. Additionally, UKFC intends to gather the information and use it for educational materials that will be distributed to coffee farmers across the state of Hawai’i.
"One of our goals is to have at least 10 additional coffee farmers add cover crops as a result of this study,” affirms Joan. “We'll tell them where to buy the seeds, suggest one (or more) of the three ground covers based on their individual microclimate, and help them troubleshoot problems.”
“Cheers to collective work in furthering climate resiliency and soil health!” she exclaims.
Brewing Coffee and Hope
Rusty may no longer be here physically, but he is very much present in the farming life of his family. Lorie still talks to him as she hand-sorts coffee beans.
Today, the dream that called to Rusty and Lorie in the middle of a coffee field continues to infuse hope into all who hear the story.
It is a story about one man who had the courage to trust himself and pursue his vision, despite the uncertainty. Because uncertainty is nothing new.
This is a story about weighing big risks and chasing the dream anyway. This is a story about coffee beans and hope. And hope is never about the outcome, because hope's reward is immediate.
“Whatever it is you’re facing, never give up!” implores Joan.“Hope arrives in the small things: A farm tour, conversations over coffee, a little story online. Hope is all around you, waiting until you're ready to receive it.”
