✉️ This story was featured in this week’s Coffee News Club.
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Coffee production in Hawaiʻi and beyond is under pressure from a changing climate, and a new multiyear research project aims to address these challenges. Co-led by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH) and Clemson University, the initiative will research stronger crop varieties and more resilient farming practices for both coffee and cacao.
The U.S. Department of State is funding the multimillion-dollar research project, with an initial $8 million investment for the first year. The Coffee and Cacao Innovation Lab will work with farmers and researchers in Hawaiʻi and around the world to “develop improved crop varieties, test farming practices and strengthen production systems,” according to a Clemson University press release.
“Hawaiʻi is a fitting living laboratory for this program as the only state in the nation that grows both coffee and cacao commercially,” said Parwinder Grewal, dean and director of the UH Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience. “Innovations developed and tested here will support Hawaiʻi farmers and scale to protect our global supply chains.”
The new investment marks a change from the current administration’s agenda, which included sweeping layoffs and a funding freeze in 2025 that affected Hawaiʻi’s coffee industry. Last year the government also shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which funded dozens of coffee projects globally.
“Coffee and chocolate are two of the joys in life. I am excited for the benefits this funding brings to American growers and consumers,” said Suzanne Shriner, a coffee farmer and the administrator for the Synergistic Hawai’i Agriculture Council. “Ensuring we can all continue to enjoy these foods means investing in the farmers, research, and practices that keep them thriving. This grant helps secure a strong future for cacao and coffee grown right here in the United States, from the farm to cup and bar.”
Read more on the new Coffee and Cacao Innovation Lab here.
