Our Founder

Ka‘u Coffee Mill is the dream of Edmund C. Olson and his family trust which is dedicating some 8,000 acres of former sugar plantation land in Ka‘u for conservation and to preserve agricultural lands, which could become a breadbasket to help feed the people of Hawai‘i.

Mr. Olson said he decided to build Ka‘u Coffee Mill when he saw that Ka‘u Coffee growers were making long trips to Kona, sometimes several times a week, to process their coffee, taking precious time away from their farms and creating large food milage on almost all coffee produced here. The mill is not only better for the environment, but helps Ka‘u Coffee growers save money, and gives them hometown influence on the quality of processing at the mill. Mr. Olson decided to build a mill here that would not only serve his own 25 acres of coffee

but all of the coffee farmers in the district. He chose a Penhalense mill from Brazil.

Mr. Olson planted acres of Ka’u Coffee and placed the Ka'u Coffee Mill next to a macadamia nut processor, a source of mulching and fertilizer components for the coffee farms.

He predicts much more coffee in the future of Ka‘u. With its wonderful climate, source of irrigation water, and growing reputation, the need for agricultural land is clear. With the Olson Trust land placed under an agricultural easement, the Ka‘u Coffee Mill is likely to serve thousands of acres of farm land in Ka‘u for generations to come.