White House serves Island-grown coffee

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

Something's brewing at the White House that could give a jolt to Hawai'i's nearly $20 million coffee industry.

Hawai'i coffee has joined American beef, bread and wine on the menu at the White House. The move follows a trip to Washington by Gov. Linda Lingle in February when she suggested the White House serve coffee grown here.

Hawai'i is the only state with a commercial coffee industry, and Lingle hoped to make fellow Republicans in the Bush administration wake up to that fact.

The White House has served Hawai'i coffee at several recent events, said spokesman Ken Lisaius, although other types of coffee continue to be served.

Lisaius said he could not identify which brand of Hawai'i roast was being served for security reasons, and the White House does not want to lend its name to any particular product.

On her visit to the nation's capitol, Lingle delivered a basket to the White House with a selection of coffee grown on the Big Island, O'ahu, Moloka'i, Maui and Kaua'i. Local growers were then left to pursue sales directly.

The Kona Pacific Farmers Cooperative, which sent five pounds of Kona coffee with the governor, said it got a call from the White House about a month ago and was notified that Hawai'i coffee was served at several White House events, including the Congressional Picnic last month.

For Hawai'i's coffee industry, the significance of being on the presidential menu isn't in the size of the orders, which will be small, but the prestige of the White House.

Dick Petersen, director of marketing for the Hawaii Coffee Association, said he hoped the White House acceptance of the Hawai'i coffee would boost efforts to persuade the federal government and military to buy more of it.

"I suppose you could say, 'Hey, drink the coffee served in the White House,' " he said.