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Frequently Asked Questions

Ordering and Shipping

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To order please go here: https://www.smithfarms.com/order/

Shipping Information below.
All USPS mail will be handled by Stamps.com, their sub-contractor
Please look for an email from stamps.com which will let you know your order has shipped. Thanks.

attention#1) USPS Tracking is not totally exact. I hand in the package here in Honaunau on Hawaii island about 8 am. The package then goes to Honolulu on Oahu island. Sometimes it lingers there for no good reason. Tracking often does not reflect the movement afterward so it appears the package has only left Honolulu.  Some packages get delivered and the Tracking never shows that result. egads.
#2) Despite the term “3 Day Priority”, it isn’t. We live on an outer island and it takes a day to get to the main Post Office in Honolulu.
#3) Most of our packages arrive within 5 days Some without any indication of movement on the USPS site, so apologies to you, but don’t lose hope.

attention USPS   

USPS Priority Flat Rate Envelope- Shipping + Handling
Can hold from a half pound of roasted up to 3 pounds of green
US-$8.75
Canada/Mexico $28.10 -unsure
other International -$34.70 and up???-unsure

USPS Priority Flat Rate Medium Box -Shipping + Handling
Can hold from 3 pounds of roasted to a Bulk (5#) Bag and up to 10 pounds of green
US– $16
Canada/Mexico – $52.90-?? unsure
other International– $73.75 ??-unsure

USPS Priority Flat Rate Large Box Shipping +Handling
Can hold more than 5 pounds of roasted coffee, up to 2 Bulk (5#) bags or 10 pounds of green
US– $20.20
Canada/Mexico-$68.50-??-unsure
other International – $99.25 and up??-unsure

Warning: We have found that International packages take longer than the 6-10 days. We process your order as quickly as we can but once your package is in the hands of the International postal carriers, we have absolutely no control. Feel free to ask in the Comments box, for USPS Express International (more expensive, naturally), if you want to get it asap. I will give you a quote.

You are buying premium, gourmet and valuable Fresh Roasted 100% Kona Coffee. We roast the day before we send it. We are always happy to send it via the method YOU want! 

Your choices for shipping will have to be ONE of these Two Services: 

#1-USPS Priority via stamps.com- cheapest-

USPS Priority means it takes 4-5 days within the US.(see caution note above)
Two roasted pounds or 3 green pounds and less will go via USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope for $8.75

More than 2 roasted pounds and more than 3 pounds of green beans, up to 5 lbs of roasted coffee and up to 10 pounds of green go in USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Medium box for $15.25

More than 5 lbs of roasted coffee will go in a USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate LARGE box for $21.05

#2 OR – FedEx-not available currently
please read this: https://www.fedex.com/en-us/shipping/current-rates.html

about 22+$  for 5 Pounds
about 21+$ for 2 or 3 pounds

You can see the choices and change your mind on the Order Form

We do love International orders but the postage is higher and we do not use FedEx, only USPS.

international

If you are ordering for an International address, please fill out my order form as well as you can AND in the “COMMENTS” section- please write out the complete address. I will use that complete address in mailing your package. Please include your telephone number because International mail asks for it. If there is trouble delivering your package, I assume:) they will call you or me if they have your telephone number.

What can fit in a USPS Priority Flat Rate envelope no matter where it goes?

  • 1 or 2 pound bags of our roasted coffee or up to 3 pounds of green
  • We believe in shipping green/unroasted coffee via USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate system. We can fit 3 pounds of green/unroasted beans shipped within the US for that same $8.75
  • We can fit 3 pounds of green/unroasted beans in an USPS International Flat Rate Envelope to Canada and Mexico,etc.

What doesn’t fit in a USPS Priority Flat Rate envelope?

More than 2 pounds of our roasted coffee, no more green/unroasted than I write above.

Hope that helps!

FedEx small

 FedEx
Not available for Canada/International due to high “tariffs” that FedEx seemingly charges which are almost equal to the value of the contents.

Some up close begonia flowers that bloom in September. Their leaves in the back ground, look painted with silver paint.

Do you encourage visitors?

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No and for a couple of reasons. We do not have a store front- this is our house. It is just Bob and me, so we are not set-up for visitors. We live 2 miles up a semi-paved, one lane private, 4 Wheel drive road.

But don’t be discouraged, there are many farms that want visitors. Go here http://www.konacoffeefarmers.org/farmTours.asp and you’ll find over 40 farms that would love to have you. (I am a KCFA member and the volunteer web person for the KCFA’s site )

Are You Organic?

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Here’s an article and we share the feelings.
read here: http://tinyurl.com/h6699s2

No. There is no organic source of fertiliser in Hawaii. All fertiliser organic or otherwise, needs to be shipped in. This of course increases prices dramatically and we could not afford to apply the adequate amounts of organic nutrition to our coffee trees that they need to remain vigorous, without pricing our coffee to the extreme and frankly, we could not make a living at all. Bob does weed whack the whole 5 acres and we try to be as organic as possible although again, we do use inorganic fertiliser.

We want our plants to be totally healthy and fully nurtured and we want to remain in farming so we have made an educated decision to judiciously use the inorganic fertiliser we use. Our plants are HAPPY! We are careful and sustainable farmers. Our land was farmed by Hawaiians, pre-contact, and we respect the farming that occurred before us and respect the right to farm healthily after us.

Total Satisfaction is our AIM!

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When we guarantee satisfaction, we guarantee it when you receive it and we can not still be responsible for it 3 months later.

01/24/2015: In response to a customer who wrote yesterday. His roasted bag was sent October 22, 2014. He wrote yesterday (01/24/2015) saying the coffee tasted “really acidic”. Hmm… too many unknowns to replenish that 5 pound bag at our expense after 3(!) months. How did it taste for the first month(s)? okay-nuff said.

Are You Fair Trade?

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The 100% Kona green coffee you get from us is certainly Fairly Traded but the FT people do not come to Kona so we do not get that marque. The FT people assume that the US, (and Hawaii is one of the 50 US States) already does things fairly– as in paying the workers a good wage, which is true. We have a dedicated US Federal Department of Agriculture too with its own set of rules.

We are also proud to be a Sustainable farm, ensuring this land can be farmed for many generations after us. We use no pesticides nor insecticides on our farm either. I believe the FT people are not as focused on that aspect.

I also think one of the most important things about us at Smithfarms is that Bob has a college (B.S.) degree in Tropical Agriculture and that makes a lot of difference because he knows theories as well as practical solutions. Our farm is happy and healthy which is not automatic with Fair Trade farms.

I just want to assure you that we are very prudent farmers, even among Kona Coffee farmers and certainly amongst the world’s coffee farmers. We believe our coffee is raised as carefully as it can be. We are proud of our end product and spend a lot of dedicated time on the details to get it there.

Kona– too strong or bitter?

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First of all, I would be interested to know what “Kona” you bought? Old beans are junk beans.They are bitter because the oils are not stable and tend to decompose. Over roasting can ruin beans. They will taste close to charcoal. A 10% Kona Blend is junk too. You can’t taste 10% Kona in a bag where the other 90% are unidentifiedwhoknowswhat beans and probably cheap and bitter to begin with.

There are so many things called Kona Coffee. Many are rip-offs. Good Kona is 100% Kona and fresh roasted. Kona is considered a mild and highly aromatic coffee. We roast our beans to a medium-dark, not burnt- also known as “just before 2nd crack”. Chocolately and yummy.

Wholesale?

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We are the farmers, my husband and I, of our 5 acre farm so we give all our customers—the farm direct price. Everyone gets the same price even our own family members.