• Home
  • Hula Daddy Kona Coffee
  • Hula Daddy Kona Coffee Teas
  • Monthly Gift Packs
  • Join the Coffee Club
    • About the Coffee Club
    • Coffee Club 30
    • Coffee Club 45
    • Coffee Club 60
    • Coffee of the Month Club
  • Limited Edition Allocation Lists
  • Hula Daddy T-Shirts
  • Other Cool Stuff
  • Gift Certificate
  • Reviews
  • Awards
  • Hula Daddy Blog
  • About Hula Daddy
    • Big Island Lure and Lore
    • Friends of Hula Daddy
    • Our Eco-Friendly Plantation
  • Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

HulaDaddy.com

Plantation Fresh 100% Kona Coffee

Header Right

First Place Kona Coffee Competition 2019
  • Order
    • Hula Daddy Kona Coffee
    • Hula Daddy Kona Coffee Teas
    • Hula Daddy Coffee Gift Packs
    • Hula Daddy T-Shirts
    • Other Cool Stuff
    • Gift Certificates
  • About Hula Daddy
    • The Hula Daddy Story
    • Our Eco-Friendly Plantation
    • Big Island Lure and Lore
    • Friends of Hula Daddy
  • Plantation Tours
  • Read Our Blog
  • Contact
  • Order
    • Hula Daddy Kona Coffee
    • Hula Daddy Kona Coffee Teas
    • Monthly Gift Packs
    • Limited Edition Allocation Lists
    • T-Shirts
    • Other Cool Stuff
    • Gift Certificates
  • Join the Coffee Club
    • Hula Daddy Coffee Club
    • Coffee-of-the-Month Club
  • Buy Hula Daddy Merchandise
    • T-Shirts
    • Other Cool Stuff
  • Reviews
  • Awards
  • Web Cams

Coffee Fraud

January 29, 2015 //  by Karen//  Leave a Comment

 

Recently, a farmer in Napa was caught labeling Lake county wine as Napa, selling inferior wine as Cabernet and stealing grapes from other growers. He has been arrested and probably will go to prison.
Could the same thing happen with coffee? Of course, the answer is “Yes.” Any place there is money, there are people willing to cheat to get it.
Fraudulent coffee occurs all over the world. The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention lists coffee as one of the seven most commonly adulterated foods.  http://goo.gl/pnymj An American roaster who buys coffee from a foreign distributor may not even know that the coffee is fraudulent. A roaster buying Costa Rican coffee may actually be buying Honduran coffee. Roasters take trips to coffee countries to pick out the coffees they want to buy. But unless they escort the coffee back themselves, anyone in the several steps between the farmer and the roaster can intentionally or inadvertently switch the bags. Coffee fraud is pandemic.
Some of the most common coffee frauds and how you can protect yourself are :
Selling Defective Coffee by Flavoring it
When we were first growing coffee we took several hundred pounds of green coffee to a new mill. When we got it back it was yellow and shriveled. We complained and were told “Just put some flavoring in it, the buyers won’t know the difference.” We threw the coffee out and thankfully that mill is out of business today.
If you want to drink flavored coffee buy inexpensive coffee beans, then buy coffee flavors from Amazon and put your own flavoring on them. At least you will know what you are drinking.
Selling Defective Coffee by Dark Roasting it and Grinding it.
 
One way to mask damaged coffee is to dark roast it and sell it ground. Dark roasting takes all of the flavors out of coffee. Grinding makes it difficult to tell whether the coffee is old, bug damaged or from discarded broken beans.
Buy whole bean coffee and inspect it before you grind it.
Selling Stolen Coffee
 
Stealing coffee beans is a common problem all over the world. Sometimes, the thieves cut down the whole tree then pick the beans off when they get it home. More commonly thieves break into barns and warehouses and steal coffee parchment and green beans.  A bag of  green coffee can sell on the black market for $1000. There is no way to tell a legal bean from a stolen bean.
 It might be very good coffee or it might have been stored next to pesticides. The thief doesn’t care but you should. Stolen coffee often shows up for sale at below farmer’s cost of production. If a coffee is cheap there is a reason for that. It may be that the coffee was stolen.

 

Mislabeling Low Grade Roasted Coffee as Higher Grade.
 
Many countries have grading systems for their coffees often based on size and quality.. The lower the grade the cheaper the coffee. However, most of these systems are only for green coffee beans.  A roaster who wants to make more money can mislabel her roasted coffee as high grade. Since roasting changes the size of the beans and masks many of the defects she probably won’t get caught.
 
Mislabeling the Coffee Origin
 
The fastest way to make an extra buck in Kona is to buy cheap non-Kona coffee and sell it as Kona. One of the most common rumors in Kona is that this or that distributor buys out of district coffee and sells it as Kona. Twenty years ago one distributor got caught selling Central American coffee as Kona, he went to prison.

 

Selling Old Roasted Coffee.
 If you go to Ross they have shelves of roasted coffee at very low prices. The coffee is old and was roasted  months, maybe years, before they got it. At Ross you know what you are getting but some coffee distributors aren’t so honest.

 

Selling Past Crop Coffee
 
Every year we get a new crop of coffee. After processing we store the coffee until roasting. As green coffee ages it loses flavor and picks up flavors from the things around it. One of the most common is the taste of burlap, if the coffee is stored in burlap bags. Farmers can slow down the degradation by storing the coffee in special bags in humidity and temperature controlled rooms. However, sooner or later nature is going to catch up. Wine gets better with age, coffee gets worse. If the farmers doesn’t sell out his crop before he has a new crop, he should sell off the old coffee at a discount to distributors who don’t care about freshness. If he doesn’t and sells the coffee to customers he is defrauding them.
What can you do to protect yourself from unethical roasters.
1. Know who grew the coffee.
2. Ask questions: Where was this coffee grown? When was it picked? When was it roasted? What variety of coffee is this? Is it all the same variety? Is it graded?
3, Buy your own flavoring. Amazon sells coffee flavorings that you can add to your coffee. That way you know you are drinking good coffee.
4, Buy whole bean coffee. When you open a package smell the bag. Does it smell like fresh coffee? Pour some beans out. Can you see defects like bug damage, misshapen beans,lots of chips, mold or fungus? When you grind it and add water does if raise up. Fresh roasted coffee blooms when hot water is added. Old coffee stays flat.

 

Kona Coffee is expensive because it requires a lot of hand labor at American rates. If the price on your Kona coffee is a bargain look again. If it is too good to be true, it probably is.

Karen Jue Paterson is the owner of Hula Daddy Kona Coffee, a 33 acre coffee farm in Kona, Hawaii. Hula Daddy is the winner of the 2014 Kona Coffee Cupping competition. Karen is a member of the Hawaii Coffee Association, the Kona Coffee Council, the Kona Coffee Farmers Association, the Holualoa Village Association  and the Specialty Coffee Association of America. She is also the author of a number of articles on Kona Coffee including: Coffee Fraud https://www.huladaddy.com/?p=2337: Kona Coffee Farmers at a Crossroad https://www.huladaddy.com/?p=696 ;How Typica is Your Kona Coffee? https://www.huladaddy.com/?p=710 ; Are Roasters Eroding the Kona Coffee Brand?https://www.huladaddy.com/?p=952; Coffee Cupping Competitions – Real or Random Chance? https://www.huladaddy.com/?p=1670 ; Seven Easy Steps to Become a Gourmet Coffee Taster https://www.huladaddy.com/?p=1785 ; How to Brew Coffee Using a Pour Over Filter  https://www.huladaddy.com/?p=1754; Before You Buy an Automatic Single Serve Coffee Brewerhttps://www.huladaddy.com/?p=1899;  Siphon Coffee Brewers Suck! https://www.huladaddy.com/?p=2026; Sweet Coffee https://www.huladaddy.com/?p=2144;What Color is Your Coffee Roast? https://www.huladaddy.com/?p=4 You can email her at huladaddycoffee@gmail.com #huladaddy #konacoffee

Share

Category: ArticlesTag: adulterated coffee, coffee fraud, coffee theft. best kona coffee, hula daddy, kona coffee, premium kona coffee

Previous Post: « Match Your Coffee Grind to the Filter
Next Post: The Perfect Coffee Pot »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

We Like Phone Orders!

Call Karen Directly at (808) 327-9744

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on Google+Follow Us on TwitterFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on YelpFollow Us on RSSFollow Us on TripAdvisor

Sign Up for our eNewletter

Get Coffee News and Product Updates

Email:
tripadvisor logoHula DaddyHula Daddy
4.5 tripadvisor stars
4.5 Stars - Based on 672 User Reviews
yelp logoHula DaddyHula Daddy
4.5 yelp stars
4.5 Stars - Based on 264 User Reviews

Hula Daddy on Yelp

Hula Daddy Kona Coffee 4.5 star rating 271 reviews Yelp logo
74-4944 Mamalahoa Hwy
Holualoa, HI 96725

(808) 327-9744

Liz W.'s Review Liz W.
5.0 star rating 11/30/2020

Such a fun, detailed, and informative coffee tour! I admit, my visit was pre-COVID times and I'm just getting around to reviewing. The views of the coast...

Read More »
Justin L.'s Review Justin L.
4.0 star rating 12/31/2020

Looked up coffee plantations during our first trip to the Big Island, and Hula Daddy was among the top options. Being located close to the airport, we...

Read More »
Colin M.'s Review Colin M.
4.0 star rating 3/5/2020

We enjoyed our impromptu tour here as the entire staff was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable but also realize this won't be for everyone. The main...

Read More »

Footer

Address:
74-4944 Mamalahoa Hwy
Holualoa, HI 96725
Phone: (808) 327-9744
Contact Info & Mailing Address

yelp logoHula DaddyHula Daddy
4.5 yelp stars
4.5 Stars - Based on 264 User Reviews
tripadvisor logoHula DaddyHula Daddy
4.5 tripadvisor stars
4.5 Stars - Based on 672 User Reviews
google logoHula DaddyHula Daddy
4.6 Stars - Based on 329 User Reviews

Copyright © 2021 HulaDaddy.com · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Pro