BIG SAVE-LABELED KONA COFFEE

KOLOA — Officials at Big Save, wishing to offer new quality products of value to visitors and residents, now have their own, Big-Save-labeled, Kona coffee.

Through arrangements with leaders at Honaunau Coffee Company on the Kona Coast of the Big Island, co-owned by Kaua‘i native Douglas D. Duarte, and Reps on Kauai, a sales and distribution network headed by Kauaian Richard Cervantes, the Big Save Kona coffee is now on shelves of Big Save Supermarkets, Menehune Food Marts and Happy Kauaian stores from Hanalei to Kekaha.

Varieties include 100-percent Kona coffee, in medium, dark roast and flavored choices, 10-percent Kona coffee selections, house blends, and many other choices of ground and whole-bean coffee.

Big Save officials sought to capitalize on the visitor market, offering something guests to the island may take home that is Kaua‘i- and Hawai‘i-related, and at the same time offer something reasonably priced for residents, Cervantes said.

There are gift sets featuring varieties of the flavored and unflavored Kona coffees carrying the Big Save label, and a host of other selections in wooden coffee centers that also feature other brands of coffee, a grinder, and other coffee needs including creamers.

Not only did Kaua‘i native Douglas D. Duarte strike up a deal with Big Save leaders to bring his Honaunau Coffee Company items back to his home island from the Kona Coast of the Big Island, but he and his father David Duarte of Kalaheo actually built and installed the 14 coffee centers at Big Save, Happy Kauaian and Menehune Food Mart locations from Kekaha to Hanalei, Douglas D. Duarte said.

He is owner and vice president of Honaunau Coffee Company. He is an innovator who has brought to market the only 100- percent, instant Kona coffee in the world, and talks with pride about being one of the few “seedto- cup” Kona-coffee farms. There is a gourmet cocoa with instant Kona coffee in it (just a tiny amount, so the cocoa is still OK for children), and Honaunau Coffee Company is the only company offering flavored, 100-percent Kona coffees, he said.

The joint effort of Big Save and Honaunau Coffee Company leaders will mean lots of marketing on both islands.

Duarte talked briefly about the wooden coffee centers he and his father built, but quickly noted that you can have pretty shelves, but without representatives like Cervantes to make sure the products are stocked, demonstrations held and people pointing out that the coffee and related products are on the shelves and available for sale, the overall effort will not be successful.

“You gotta offer the public everything,” said Duarte, who bears the expenses of the freesampling demonstrations, the one at the Koloa Big Save last week being a big hit with visitors and residents alike.

“The main thing is they’re happy when they leave the store,” Duarte said of customers.

The next big things Duarte and his associates at Honaunau Coffee Company are working on include Kona coffee “pods,” which are single-cup, filter-wrapped items that can be dropped into machines called pods which brew one cup of perfect coffee in 20 seconds, without any worries about grounds.

The pods (the coffee) are expected in stores within two weeks.

Duarte said leaders of his company approached Big Save leaders with the idea of Big Save-labeled, Kona-coffee products, and Wesley Park, Big Save operations vice president, asked a lot of good questions before the deal was struck.

Among other concerns, Park wanted to make sure no other coffee-makers were excluded from the Big Save coffee centers, as the new displays are called, Duarte said. Park was not available for comment, but Greg Jardin, Big Save’s grocery buyer, said the initial response to the new idea has been good from both visitors and residents.

The 100-percent Kona coffee is offered “at a real good price,” and “the coffee is really good,” Jardin said.

Another innovation Duarte is pitching to Big Save executives is a machine that will take Kona coffee beans, grind them, and dispense a steaming cup of cappucino. Something like that might be perfect for the delis in three of the Big Save Supermarkets, he feels.

Duarte is the son of David and Flora Duarte of Kalaheo. Big Save Supermarkets are in Hanalei, Kapa‘a, Lihu‘e, Koloa, ‘Ele‘ele and Waimea. Menehune Food Marts are in Kilauea, Kapahi, Lawa‘i, Kalaheo and Kekaha.

The Happy Kauaian stores are at Coconut Marketplace, Wailua Marina and Sheraton Kauai Resort.

Cervantes started Reps on Kauai with a single calendar line, and has grown the seven-yearold business to now include a wide variety of souvenirs and foods, and many customers in addition to Big Save.

Paul C. Curtis, associate editor, may be reached at 245- 3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@pulitzer.net.