MauiGrown Coffee President Kimo Falconer inspects some of this year’s coffee cherries.

LAHAINA – MauiGrown Coffee this month reported a record harvest of its Arabica coffee varieties grown at the 500-acre Kaanapali Estate.

MauiGrown Coffee is the largest individually operated coffee grower in the U.S. and the original and only major producer of 100 percent Maui Origin Coffee in the world.

This year’s harvest totaling more than 350,000 pounds of green coffee exceeded the volume of any prior harvests.

The company credits its continued focus on quality as a major contributor to the increase in cherry production.

Since MauiGrown Coffee was established in 2003, the company has been working to revitalize the coffee plants abandoned by the Pioneer Mill Company, which closed its doors in 2001.

The cherries of MauiGrown Coffee’s four coffee varieties – Yellow Caturra, Red Catuai, Typica and Maui Mokka – have increased in size due to better nutrition fed to the coffee trees over the years.

MauiGrown Coffee President Kimo Falconer said, “Our goal is to produce a bountiful range of unique, distinctive and high-quality coffees.

“We take a seed-to-cup approach, from ensuring the health of our plants to continuing to improve on how we process our coffee cherries. For instance, all our cherries are now 100 percent fully washed versus semi-washed just one year ago – an additional processing step that has gained positive feedback from customers and cuppers,” added Falconer, who serves as president of the Hawaii Coffee Growers Association.

Last year’s Maui Mokka inventory nearly sold out, and customers anticipate the release of the 2012 crop that became available for sale this month.

This demand is due in part to Hawaii, U.S. Mainland and Japanese customers, but also due to Maui Mokka’s recent entry into the European and German markets.

Japan Airlines now serves 100 percent Maui Mokka coffees on all of its Japan to Hawaii flights and is looking to expand the varietal’s offering on all of its international routes.

MauiGrown Coffee anticipates more exposure and growth for Maui Mokka in national and international markets this year.