A national grocer said it has changed its label onpackages of Kona coffee blends, making good on a promise it made last year to agroup of Hawaii coffee farmers.
But the Kona Coffee Farmers Association said ThursdaySafeway hasn't fully honored that promise.
Last year, Safeway agreed to change the label on Kona coffeeblend products sold on the mainland to add the word "10 percent minimumKona blend." That was after the association called for a boycott of thecompany's 1,700 stores nationwide because farmers believed the labels weremisleading and degraded the reputation of Hawaii's world-famous coffee.
Safeway doesn't sell the coffee blend in any of its Hawaiilocations, so the company wasn't subject to a law in the Aloha State thatrequires labels reflect the percentage of Hawaii-grown coffee, which needs tobe at least 10 percent for the state designation.
Instead, the state Department of Agriculture asked Safewayto voluntarily comply with Hawaii's law.
The grocer, which is based in Pleasanton, California, agreedand promised to begin selling 100 percent Kona coffee in some Californiastores.
The Kona Coffee Farmers Association has been watchingSafeway closely for these changes. The association said in a letter to Safewaythat members have seen the old packaging on shelves in some mainland stores andis disappointed the company hasn't yet started selling pure Kona coffee.
"Given the product shelf life, packaging used beforethe (changes) may still exist on store shelves or elsewhere in our distributionchain," said a letter from Brian Dowling, Safeway vice president of publicaffairs, adding that the company doesn't plan to destroy or dispose of thoseproducts.
Bruce Corker, a member of the association board ofdirectors, said, "Our people have been in six different stores and theyhave yet to see the 10 percent label. All they've seen is packaging thatdoesn't disclose the minimum 10 percent content."
Dowling's letter said that Safeway hadn't been able to sell100 percent Kona coffee, but still planned to do so. He blamed the berry borer,a beetle that has destroyed coffee crops in Kona and rocked an industry thatgenerates $30 million in annual sales.
"Yes, there's a reduction in the coffee output ... butit's a relatively minor percentage," Corker said. "There is 100percent Kona coffee available. It's not that it can't be purchased."
Safeway spokeswoman Teena Massingill said the company issurprised by the association's response.
The farmers' battle against the supermarket giant inspired a$5 million class-action lawsuit in federal court in Northern Californiaclaiming Safeway profited off the reputation of Kona coffee while selling aninferior product with very little Hawaii-grown coffee.