Kona Coffee Farmers Don't Kill Elephants

Kona coffee farmers in Hawaii don't kill elephants--easy to do since Hawaii does not have any wild elephants--but coffee growers in Sumatra do kill elephants.

I saw this story on ABC news today about elephants in Bukit Barisan Selatanit, a national park on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. The news reporter went there is search of the 'lost herd', an elephant herd that used to be 60 strong, but now is only a group of 4 struggling elephants due to the lost of their wild habitat.

Although this national park is a protected forest, much of it has been burned and cleared to grow Robusta coffee beans. (Robusta coffee beans are commonly used in America and Europe to make instant coffee.) As the elephants habitat shrinks, more leave the forest and trample crops like coffee, so the farmers kill them.

The Nestle corporation buys 40 percent of their coffee beans from coffee growers in this region to make their Nescafe brand instant coffee.

"How does a coffee producer in Europe or North America know that the coffee they're buying hasn't come from here? They don't," said Tomasek. "And that's actually the root of the problem."

A Nestle spokesman told ABC News, "It might come -- we have no way of knowing -- from illegal sources. Law enforcement is not our task. … We are working with local farmers to increase output from legal, existing plantations."

Tomasek said that "a consumer can have absolutely no confidence in what they are purchasing."

We are proud and confident to offer pure Kona instant coffee and 100% Kona coffee beans online. Coffee grown in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, USA, does not harm any indigenous wildlife. Kona coffee is also a fair trade coffee meaning growers are paid a living wage for their labor. This makes Kona coffee is an environmentally friendly and socially responsible coffee, so you can feel good while you drink delicious 100 percent pure Kona coffee.

Remember to buy 100 percent Kona coffee and not a Kona blend with only 10 percent Kona coffee beans and 90 percent coffee beans from who knows where--Sumatra?

For Kona coffee recipes and Kona coffee information, read our Kona Coffee blog category.

Comments

[kailanli]

That is so sad! What kind of coffee does Starbucks use? Oh no!

BTW, thank you so much for the gifts that you sent. The kids love the finger puppets. They've been putting on little shows for me!

[Evelyn]

That's terrible! OMG! In the US, it would not only be terrible, it would be criminal! If people only knew what they were buying. Sigh. Elephant sanctuaries are few... and so are elephants. Sigh.

[HawaiiVacationGifts]

Kailani,
I think Starbucks buys coffee from everywhere! I am glad you got everything okay, that is so cute that the girls are putting on finger puppet shows for you!

Evelyn,
I think it is good for people to have as much information as possible so they can make informed decisions.