HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-07-13 Nathan Pinault Support TestimonyFrom: Nathan Pinault
To: Planning LPC Testimony
Cc:
Subject: RE: SUPPORT — Kona Kai, LLC / Rising Kona Coffee Farm Tours, Special Permit Application No. PL-SPP-2025-000109 (Hearing: July 16, 2026)
Date: Monday, July 13, 2026 4:21:59 PM
July 14, 2026
Leeward Planning Commission c/o Hawaiʻi County Planning Department
Aloha Chair and Commissioners,
My name is Nathan, and I oversee Buddha's Sanctuary LLC (Buddha's Cup) in Holualoa.
We're a family coffee operation — we've been farming in the Kona coffee belt since 2004, across roughly 80 acres and five estates. I'm writing because I want the Commission to hear
from someone who grows coffee for a living about why this application matters.
Here's the honest math of Kona coffee: cherry alone doesn't keep a farm alive anymore. Between labor, coffee berry borer, leaf rust, fertilizer, and equipment, the numbers don't work
on farming income by itself. Every serious coffee farm I know in this district has had to diversify — roasting and selling direct, hosting tours and tastings, offering farm experiences
and farm stays. That isn't a loophole. That's how agricultural land stays in agriculture instead of being cleared for another estate home. Our farm welcomes visitors too, and that revenue is
what pays pickers, keeps trees pruned and fed, and lets us keep farming.
Rising Kona is a genuine working coffee farm doing exactly that. The trees are real, the harvest is real, and the operation has earned a strong reputation with visitors and within the
Kona coffee community. Guests who spend time on farms like this leave understanding what 100% Kona coffee actually is — and that benefits every grower in this district, including us.
Technically, we compete for the same visitors. I'm supporting this application anyway, because what's good for genuine agritourism on genuine farms is good for Kona coffee.
I respectfully ask the Commission to approve Special Permit Application PL-SPP-2025-
000109. Supporting this application is supporting agriculture in Kona.
Mahalo for your time and service,
Nathan Pinault Land and Field Manager, Head Processor, Buddha's Sanctuary LLC
Holualoa, Hawaiʻi