This is the Semi-tractor trailer no. A-823 driven by our farmer, FM.

Our farms were started in 1996 upon the closure of the Ka'u Sugar Company.  FM was one of many who suddenly lost his job after 30 years of employment at this plantation.   

One day, he and his brother-in-law, another displaced sugar worker were talking stories in our backyard about growing coffee in Ka`u.  The area of choice was Cloudrest.  I, too was a displaced sugar worker and a former laboratory analyst in the sugar factory.  I totally agreed with them.  They finally built up the confidence to present this idea to the company's superintendant.  With their hearts in their hands, they pleaded with him and wanted him to know that they didn't know how to make a living other than working the land. They were lucky.  The decision was in their favor.  Four other friends followed, while others watched with skepticism.  Later more tried it, and today, Ali`i Hawaiian Hula Hands Coffee shares the stage with many other award-winning Ka'u coffees grown in this same Cloudrest area in Moa`ula, four and a half miles above the plantation town of Pahala.  

A tribute to the Sugar plantation days.  A piece of nostalgia, the Scale House from the millyard sits on our first farm started in 1996.  The old Safety sign alerts you to wear your hard hats.

This old sign reads Ka'u Cloudrest Coffee Farms.  In the late afternoon, after the last coffee tree was planted in the sixth farm, the farmers with blistered hands, and heavy hearts, held a blessing in this very spot.  With their families and friends around them, and with tears in their eyes, this beautiful sign of hope was planted.  It symbolized their dedication to trying their hands at something outside of the ordinary, while at the same time, it gave them a sense of fulfillment and pride.  They took a chance and started this journey, laying the foundation for a new page in the history of Ka'u.