In the late 1980's, there was an idea to diversify the agriculture of East Hawaii. The papayas had gotten the ring-spot virus, the bananas had bunchy-top virus and the sugar cane industry was all but finished. Many other tropical agriculture products had fallen as well. My brother, Cary Fincher, who then worked for AMFAC, was looking for a new crop, or product to keep that company afloat. It was a tough economic time. AMFAC closed and many companies failed.

Cary was now without a job, but not without ideas. A call was made to Bill Fincher, who funded the original Kilauea Coffee Company. In 1991, after much dialog, and trips from the mainland, a farm was purchased, the ground bulldozed and prepped, a home built and 1200 seedlings started.

Cary, Rex (my Brothers), Bill and Nina (my Father and Mother) and a few others planted the first orchard in January of 1993. We were the first to re-plant coffee in East Hawaii since the late 1800's when there was nearly 6000 acres of coffee in production.
That was the beginning. Now, years later, all the Fincher family members, have dirtied their hands in the volcanic dirt of East Hawaii. My Wife Louise and I now own and operate Kilauea Coffee Company. We continue to have the spirit. The drive to continue what has been started. We are fortunate to have the experiences of our family members who are no longer with us on this journey. We learned a lot about farming, business, and ourselves from them.

We miss them everyday.