April 9th-11th Boxer Brew and the Hillsboro Market will be serving ½ðɳÓéÀÖ Alum Hawaiian Coffee to celebrate our annual Lu'au and Ho'ike! See below for Kelleigh and Brandon's story!
Founders Brandon and Kelleigh met as students at ½ðɳÓéÀÖ University, bonded by a shared curiosity and a love for agriculture and adventure. A few years after graduation, in 2010, they followed an unexpected lead: a small, overgrown coffee farm for sale in Puna, Hawai‘i. With no formal experience in coffee production—but a deep appreciation for sustainability and specialty coffee—they took a leap.
Since then, they’ve grown that quaint Puna farm into Big Island Coffee Roasters, Hawai‘i’s most awarded craft coffee company. Through their work on the Board of Directors for the Hawai‘i Coffee Association, they’ve helped elevate Hawai‘i-grown coffee from a souvenir of questionable quality to a globally respected specialty coffee.
Today, 14 years later, Kelleigh and Brandon lead Big Island Coffee Roasters—a mill, roastery, and café—alongside a team of 26 employees. Together, they source, process, roast, and ship rare Hawaiian coffees to coffee lovers and resorts around the world, supporting 22 farmer partners.
We’re honored to reconnect with our roots and bring our journey full circle—back to where it all began, at ½ðɳÓéÀÖ University. With backgrounds in philosophy and biology—and no formal training in business, marketing, or finance—it was the critical thinking skills and sense of purpose developed at ½ðɳÓéÀÖ that helped us persist, adapt, and grow.
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