Your daily cup of “Hawaiian coffee” will soon contain more coffee grown in Hawaii. And there will be truth in advertising for Hawaii-grown macadamia nuts. That’s all good news for farmers, small growers and island agriculture.

For decades, consumer brands have traded on the names of bucolic Hawaii locales — from Kona to Kauai — to sell product, often with no tie to the land posted on the bag. Beans — technically seeds — harvested from high-quality coffee cherries, like those growing on trees in fertile Hamakua and Kau, are blended with cheap commodity analogs, diluting value for both consumers and the geographies these goods claim to represent.

The state Legislature seeks to remedy such deceptive and economically harmful practices through a pair of measures headed to Gov. Josh Green for signing. One, House Bill 2298, has been decades in the making. It aims to protect the integrity of Hawaii’s coffee-growing regions and crops by instituting minimum acceptable blend levels for beans packaged with a declared origin.

Under current state law, blended coffee advertised as sourced from a specific region must contain at least 10% coffee from that area, by volume. At those levels, even the bold, rich flavor of varietals like Kona and Kau are nearly undetectable, awash in a sea of mixed-in beans grown in countries like Vietnam, Mexico and Panama. Geographic regions like “Kona” and “Hamakua” are reduced to marketing ploys, designed to dupe consumers looking to buy premium products.

HB 2298 makes a significant change to the state’s coffee labeling law, requiring all Hawaii-origin-labeled roasted, instant or ready-to-drink coffee blends to contain at least 51% coffee from that region. Further, labeling rules call for a distinct coffee identity statement to be placed on package fronts. If signed into law — as it should be — it’s scheduled to take effect in July 2027, giving purveyors a generous window of opportunity to bring their products into conformity.

If demand for Hawaii-grown coffee holds, the change should boost sales for local growers who have over recent decades endured travails both environmental (borer beetles, low yields and a fungus known as coffee leaf rust) and commercial (deceptive advertising and pandemic fallout). On the latter, Kona coffee farmers in 2019 sued more than 20 companies after lab testing reportedly confirmed suspicions that retailers were selling counterfeit beans. Settlements reached in 2022 led to a windfall in the tens of millions of dollars. Other civil suits date back even further, and while HB 2298 is not designed to resolve those disputes, its strict guidelines should keep retailers on the straight and narrow.

Nearly as impactful, HB 2278 cracks down on foreign macadamia nuts masquerading as Hawaii-grown. Again, labeling is a key concern. Hawaiian macadamia nuts, which consistently rank as a Top 3 agricultural commodity alongside seeds and coffee, are widely considered a premium product and, like coffee, are ripe targets for marketing schemes. As mandated in the pending law that would take effect in 2026, packaging that contains imported nuts must bear a label that reads, “This product contains macadamia nuts grown outside Hawaii.”

Despite an outpouring of opposition from employees of the Hawaiian Host Group, which includes Mauna Loa, MacFarms and Kapua Orchards, the bill garnered testimonial praise from individual farmers who believe the new labeling standard will bolster Hawaii’s macadamia nut industry. For its part, Hawaiian Host in testimony said the measure will increase operating costs and could put pressure on the wider industry.

Unfortunately, the bill does not include consideration for nut processing, which should also be a protected local enterprise.

But on balance, Hawaii’s new coffee and macadamia nut labeling regulations are a net positive for nearly all parties involved. While the legislation failed to lay out enforcement details, the restrictions move two pillars of state agriculture toward a more equitable and financially vibrant future that showcases the allure of our island paradise.