KAILUA, KONA, Hawai'i— When Debbie Hoshide inherited seven acres of coffee trees from her mother, she wanted to carry on the family business.

But with virtually no experience in the Kona coffee business and a disability that prevents her from doing the required physical work, Hoshide was worried about losing the farm.

"I was absolutely getting frustrated. I kept wondering do I let it go and lose 25 years of family work or do I try to save it," she said. "I asked around and the name that kept coming up was Tommy's."

Tommy Greenwell, a fourth-generation coffee farmer, roaster and processor, came to Hoshide's rescue, adding her seven acres in Honaunau to a growing list of properties he manages. Greenwell tends the trees — from fertilizing and pruning to harvesting — and buys the beans from the property owner.

He now manages more than 150 acres of coffee along with his own 35 acres.

"The whole idea is to create a consistent base of coffee," he said. "We want to keep the quality up and we want to keep the production up. We're not farming other people's coffee for profit."

Greenwell said other farm managers charge a fee, but he's not interested in it as a separate business.

"I just want the cherry," he said. "I'll do the work, but I'm not a landscaper."

Greenwell gets the best beans and knows exactly where it comes from.

Hoshide called it a win-win situation, "because you don't have to go out and find the equipment and the manpower and Tommy gets the beans."

With more than 700 estate and commercial farms scattered across the volcanic slopes of Hualalai producing some 4 million pounds of beans each year, Greenwell didn't have to advertise his management program.

He gets a lot of people who want to retire or don't have experience with coffee farming, such as the 44-year-old Hoshide, who has worked as a makeup artist and home health aid.

Greenwell said he started helping farmers because so many mainlanders were coming in with little experience in coffee growing. Now, he's into the third harvest with some of the farms.

Besides helping out retirees and fledgling farmers, Greenwell said the program is intended to preserve the Kona coffee brand beyond this generation.

"Some people have inherited their grandfather's trees, but they'd rather be doctors or lawyers in Honolulu or where ever," Greenwell said. "Hopefully, I can talk them into keeping their farms."

As the island population grows, development is cutting into lands that long have been agriculture.

"Unfortunately, where coffee and avocados like to grow is where people like to live," he said. "People who are lucky enough to inherit, what are they going to do? I think you'll see fewer and fewer small acreage coffee farms and the bulk of Kona coffee will be on larger farm tracts."

When Hoshide contacted him in February, he jumped right in. Some areas of the farm were so overgrown that, "you couldn't even tell there where trees in there," Hoshide said.

Greenwell's team fixed that, saving 95 percent of the trees.

"Now it's looking really great," Hoshide said. "New growth on old coffee trees is so great to see."

Hoshide said she is grateful she is able to carry on her family's legacy.

"I was just thrown into the coffee business," she said. "My parents planted every tree up there and I didn't want to lose it. ... Tommy has been so supportive. He's a Godsend and a savior to me."

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