HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	207
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TO ENFORCE THE FEDERAL TRADEMARK FOR KONA COFFEE.

     WHEREAS, Kona coffee is world renowned for its deliciously rich, medium-bodied, and slightly acidic flavor, as well as its heady aroma; and

     WHEREAS, Kona coffee is grown on the dark volcanic lava rock slopes of Kona along the west coast of the Big Island, an area that has been producing coffee continuously since the early 1800s; and

     WHEREAS, Kona coffee trees thrive in the unique combination of sunshine, rainfall, location, and volcanic soil - only available in Kona - to allow for the creation of award-winning coffees; and

     WHEREAS, Kona coffee farmers have honed their skills over many generations in meticulously cultivating and processing coffee beans; and

     WHEREAS, the reputation for world-class excellence that defines Kona coffee has made it one of the most expensive coffees in the world, which has resulted in attempts to exploit the Kona name; and

     WHEREAS, one of the most egregious cases occurred in the 1990s, when a company called Kona Kai Farms was found to have put Central American coffee into bags with labels indicating it was Kona coffee; and

     WHEREAS, to protect the reputation of bona-fide Kona coffee, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture secured a federal certification mark for 100 percent Kona coffee which provides an assurance of origin and quality; and
     WHEREAS, enforcement of the Kona coffee trademark is needed to prevent the sale and distribution of counterfeit coffee labeled as Kona coffee; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, that the Department of Agriculture is requested to enforce the federal trademark for Kona coffee; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture.

Report Title: 

Kona Coffee; Trademark