Coffee

Katayama told the council he wouldn’t discuss details of the lease or explain where the disagreement lies.

James Priestley, the vice president of Brue Baukol Capital Partners, told SFGATE in an email that the firm has always hoped to reach an agreement with Massimo Zanetti.

He [Priestley] explained that, in 2024, Brue Baukol listed 4,713 acres of its coffee lands for sale. “When we received an indication that a renewal was uncertain, we considered leasing or selling the land to another interested steward whose values aligned with ours and could continue the legacy of agriculture on this land,” he wrote.

Priestley said that the company intends to keep coffee operations going, even if ongoing lease negotiations are unsuccessful, and that it would like to “retain all Kauai Coffee employees who wish to continue working with us.”

“We remain open to all options that achieve our goals of supporting jobs, maintaining coffee operations and responsible land stewardship,” Priestley wrote.

“Let me be clear, Brue Baukol Capital Partners has negotiated in good faith for more than two years and has no plans to lay off employees or rezone important agricultural lands (IAL),” he said in his email. “Our focus is, and will remain, on the employees — the heartbeat of Kauai Coffee — and we are committed to doing everything we can to ensure stability and a smooth transition, with or without Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group’s agreement to new lease terms.”