While a miniscule amount of coffee is grown on the mainland in California’s Santa Barbara hills, the United States produces coffee primarily on islands, notably Hawaii and the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico. Coffee production in the United States totaled 50,000 60kg bags in 2025, enough to place the nation 38th in global volume ranking.
First plantings may have occurred as early as 1790s via the British navigator George Vancouver, though most sources site the beginning of commercial cultivation in 1825 with the introduction of coffee from Rio de Janeiro via Oahu’s governor, Chief Boki, as he returned from a trip to Europe. The Bourbon variety was introduced a decade later, with the first record of 248lbs of harvest logged in 1845.
Blight wiped coffee off most of the Hawaiian Islands in 1855-56, further decimated by rust in the late 19th century, and sugarcane production generally took root and did not give way to major commercial coffee production again until 1912, reaching fever pitch in the 1980s. Ever-shifting market demand has largely shaped the scale of Hawaiian coffee farms, the majority of which are small, just 3-5 acres in size.
There are now multiple growing regions across the island chain, including production on Kauai (the state’s largest producer), O’ahu, Maui, Molokai, and the Big Island. The Big Island’s Kona region is unquestionably the most famous, commanding exorbitant premiums on the specialty market. Early recognition of the Kona brand's reputation is often traced to Kona trader Henry Nocholas Greenwall, who was awarded for coffee excellence at the World’s Fair in Vienna in 1873. While the 100% Kona trademark is highly regulated, Kona blends, however, may contain as little as 10% of coffee from the region. Due to high prices and global recognition, there are frequent accusations of fraudulently labeled Kona coffee.
Hawaiian coffee farmers are supported by agronomic research at local universities such as the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center (HARC), which maintains research sites at Kunia and Maunawili on O’ahu.
Puerto Rico is a minor producer of arabica and miniscule amounts of robusta, with approximately a third of the island’s volumes consumed prior to export. Much of the rest is destined for export as roasted product, under the Coca-Cola corporation’s Puerto Rico Coffee Roasters brand. Roasted coffee must be imported to the island from places like Mexico and the Dominican Republic to meet demand for local consumption.
Initial plantings in Puerto Rico date to the 18th century, by Spanish colonizers, likely brought to the island from what is now the Dominican Republic. Production volumes peaked in the 19th century, and PR was once a global leader in production, ranking 7th at its height.
Annexed by the United States from Spanish colonial rule in 1898, coffee production withered. Economic incentives drove farmers to other crops, and a devastating hurricane in 1899 nearly wiped coffee plants out entirely. Under the authority of the U.S., coffee production in Puerto Rico was seen as a deterrent to important currency exchange dependence in other Latin American countries, and production was stifled on Puerto Rico.
Climate events and economic policy continue to suppress the island’s coffee production to this day.
