UCC Hawaii

4 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 5 UCC HAWA I I trend for canned coffee when it debuted its “UCC Coffee with Milk” in 1969, welcomed the world- famous Kona into its fold. “UCC is one of the biggest coffee companies in Japan,” reports company Manager Benymar Sadumiano. “Their motto is ‘Good coffee smile’ and we follow that, too. Everything revolves around the passion for coffee. A smile is what we want for all our customers when they drink our Kona coffee.” UCC Hawaii lies at the foot of Mt. Hualalai, on the west side of the Big Island. The Estate has a farm, a wetmill, a retail store, and a roasting factory. All four facilities give a panoramic view of the city of Kona and the beautiful sea. Their hands-on Estate Tour provides an excellent opportunity to learn more about how coffee is grown in Kona, and their paid Roastmaster Tour even lets visitors roast their own coffee. “We have about 40 acres of land and 21 of those are planted with Kona coffee,” Sadumiano says. “We’re up near Holualoa Village, which is prime Kona coffee growing area within the coffee belt.” According to Sadumiano, the Estate has a long- standing relationship with the community and, each year, sponsors the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, which is the longest-running food festival in Hawaii. They’re also the main sponsor for the Miss Kona Coffee Pageant, whose candidates are then invited to compete for the opportunity to participate in the Miss Hawaii and Miss America competitions. “Each Miss Kona Coffee winner gets flown overseas to advertise Kona coffee in Japan,” Sadumiano notes. “We sponsor her for one week to promote our Kona coffee products in the Japanese markets.” One of their trade secrets for best-tasting, delectable Kona coffee is a special machine called a Crackulator. “What it does is it chops the coffee beans up instead of grinding them down, because a regular grinder creates heat and that