Off the news: Kauai Coffee Co. gets new lease on life

A new 15-year lease will let Kauai Coffee Co. to continue operating its well-known farm, wholesale and retail operations, while its investment-firm landlord looks for opportunities to cultivate unused acreage.

The coffee farm — the biggest by acreage in Hawaii and the U.S. — was founded in 1989 by then-property owner Alexander & Baldwin. A&B sold the operation to Italian company Massimo Zanetti in 2011.

Denver-based investment firm Brue Baukol Capital Partners bought the land in 2022, and considered running its own show. But after months of rocky negotiations, the businesses announced a lease renewal on Thursday. Kauai Coffee lives on.