Special to Hawaii 24/7 by Hawaii Coffee Association Board Member Chris Manfredi, Ka’u Farm and Ranch Company, LLC

The Hawaii Coffee Association kicked off its inaugural Road Show tour Jan. 17-19 at the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) Winter Fancy Food Show at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

The three-day event was attended by approximately 17,000 attendees and hosted by 1,300 exhibitors representing 32 counties from around the globe. In its 35th year, the NASFT Fancy Food Show featured an array of nearly 80,000 gourmet and specialty products.

Indicative of a growing niche trend, more than 600 exhibitors featured natural and organic products- a total of 46 percent of the exhibitors on hand.

With the economy showing signs of recovery, buyers are eager to find specialty food and beverages that will help set their business apart, said Ann Daw, president of the NASFT.

The HCA promotional event is made possible by the state Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant program. HCA members were offered sponsorship opportunities and invited to present their coffee and collateral material for tasting, display and distribution in the HCA booth.

Contacts with prospective buyers, brokers, distributors, roasters, and service providers yielded 153 actionable leads that were shared with the HCA membership.

HCA members who made the journey on behalf of the HCA and Hawaiian coffee were team leader Steve Collector of Tropical Temptations, Brent Hight of Koa Coffee, Shawn Steiman of Coffea Consulting and Chris Manfredi of Ka’u Farm and Ranch Co., LLC.

The star of the show, of course, was the coffee. HCA members representing all coffee producing islands including Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, Molokai and Oahu continuously brewed and served member coffee from dawn ’til dusk for the entire span of the event, as well as answering questions and extolling the virtues of Hawaiian coffee.

“The traffic at the show was heavy most of the time compared to most trade shows,” Hight said.

“The booth was a big success,” Steiman said. “Nearly all folks were impressed with the quality of at least one coffee, if not several.”

Future shows on the HCA Road Show schedule include: Specialty Coffee Association of America’s Exposition, Anaheim, Calif., April 16-18; Made in Hawaii Festival, Honolulu in August; Coffee Fest, Seattle, Wash. next year.

The HCA Road Show initiative gives event sponsors a direct benefit in that they can be represented at a major venue at a small fraction of the cost when compared to independently participating. Moreover, all HCA members get the benefit of the leads generated from the shows.

— Find out more:
Hawaii Coffee Association: http://hawaiicoffeeassociation.com/