Hundreds of Kona coffee farmers on a stretch of Hawaii’s volcanic soil recently won a series of settlements totaling more than $41 million after battling with distributors and retailers accused of misleading customers by using the Kona name, reports The New York Times.
Kona coffee is one of the most expensive coffees in the world, fetching as much as $50 a pound, largely because it is difficult to produce, requiring an involved manual process and a specific soil type.
“There are probably many, many more marketers of coffee who have misused geographic names in marketing, and this will be a disincentive,” said Bruce Corker, who owns the Rancho Aloha coffee farm in the Kona district.
Corker, a former lawyer, noted that fellow farmers suspected that alleged Kona coffee sold in souvenir stores, coffee shops, and large retailers was fake because of its low price.
The farmers won the case due to biologist Dr. James Ehleringer and his team discovering that a comprehensive chemical analysis could accurately verify real Kona coffee beans from fake. He said that the coffee beans of true Kona coffee have rare, inorganic materials in ratios specific to the beans.
"We were able to establish a fingerprint for Kona,” said Ehleringer, who explained the method in a 2020 study. “It’s the characteristics of the volcanic rock.”
Defendants contested the testing method in a legal motion; however, the case was settled before a final ruling was made. Full Story (Subscription Required)
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