Kalaheo Cafe and Coffee Company

What Kalaheo Cafe and Coffee Company does

Kalaheo Café & Coffee Company is a privately held, single-location restaurant and coffee retailer operating from upcountry Kalaheo on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Founded in May 1994 and led by Chef John Ferguson, the business serves breakfast and lunch Wednesday through Sunday at its 2-2560 Kaumualii Highway location, with signature items including the Upcountry Breakfast and Bagel Benny. The company supplements its dine-in revenue with a direct-to-consumer e-commerce storefront shipping Hawaiian coffees (Kauai estate, Kona, espresso blends, and five flavored varieties), branded merchandise, and gift cards across the United States.

Revenue is generated through four streams: in-restaurant dine-in service, online coffee and merchandise sales via its own e-commerce site, electronic and physical gift cards (denominations of $5-$100, three-year validity), and Toast-enabled online ordering for dine-in and pickup. Pricing is unit-based, with coffee products ranging from $16 (1/2 lb flavored or espresso blends) to $75 (1 lb Kona Extra Fancy), and merchandise from $16.95 (hats) to $87 (South Shore Cycling Club jerseys). The business uses ToastTab for online food ordering and Authorize.Net for payment processing, and maintains social profiles across Facebook, Instagram, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Zagat for community engagement and review aggregation.

With approximately 10 employees, no disclosed external funding, and no parent company, Kalaheo Café & Coffee Company operates as a bootstrapped, founder-managed lifestyle business. Its addressable footprint is structurally bounded by the operational capacity of one physical dining room, while its online coffee channel offers nominal geographic optionality that has not yet been scaled into a meaningful secondary revenue stream.

Name

Kalaheo Cafe and Coffee Company

Legal name

Kalaheo Café & Coffee Co.

Website

https://kalaheo.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Kalaheo Café & Coffee Company is a privately held, single-location restaurant in upcountry Kalaheo, Kauai, serving breakfast and lunch Wednesday through Sunday. Founded in 1994, it supplements dine-in revenue with a direct-to-consumer e-commerce store shipping Hawaiian coffees, merchandise, and gift cards nationwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Kalaheo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Restaurant dine-in sales: Breakfast and lunch service Wednesday through Sunday at their Kalaheo, Kauai location. Popular items include Upcountry Breakfast, Bagel Benny, and various deli sandwiches, burgers, and salads.
2. Online coffee sales: Shipped fresh coffee products including Hawaiian coffees, flavored coffees, and specialty roasts. Coffee sold in 1/2 lb and 1 lb bags with various grind options.
3. Merchandise sales: Logo merchandise including t-shirts, hats, and cycling jerseys sold through the online store.
4. Gift cards: Electronic and physical gift cards available in denominations from $5 to $100, valid for three years from purchase date.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Kalaheo Café & Coffee Co. runs a casual breakfast and lunch restaurant in upcountry Kalaheo on Kauai, Hawaii, serving signature dishes like the Upcountry Breakfast and Bagel Benny. The company also sells Hawaiian coffees (Kauai estate, Kona, espresso blends, flavored varieties), branded merchandise, and gift cards through its own online e-commerce store, shipping fresh-roasted coffee across the US.

Product overview

Kalaheo Cafe and Coffee Company operates a physical restaurant on Kauai, Hawaii (open Wednesday-Sunday) combined with an e-commerce platform for online coffee and merchandise sales. The core offering includes in-restaurant breakfast and lunch dining with signature dishes, alongside a catalog of 10+ Hawaiian coffee products (including estate-grown Kauai coffees, Kona varieties, espresso blends, and 5 flavored coffees), branded merchandise (t-shirts, hats, cycling jerseys), and gift cards. The coffee products range from $16-$75 and include options for various roast levels and grind types. Online ordering is facilitated through ToastTab integration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• In-Restaurant Dining Service Physical cafe offering breakfast and lunch service Wednesday through Sunday at the Kalaheo, Kauai location for walk-in customers, featuring hearty American cafe fare.
• Breakfast Menu In-restaurant breakfast menu served Wednesday-Saturday 7:00am-11:30am and Sunday all day, including signature dishes such as Upcountry Breakfast and Bagel Benny, build-your-own omelettes, pancakes, waffles, French toast, scrambled egg sandwiches, and the Bonzo Burrito.
• Lunch Menu In-restaurant lunch service Wednesday-Saturday 11:00am-2:00pm featuring a Cafe Burger Bar with grass-fed beef, deli sandwiches, grilled items, fresh salads, soups, smoothies, daily specials, and a children's menu.
• Espresso and Specialty Coffee Drinks

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Hanalei Coffee Roasters: Kauai-based coffee roaster and cafe serving Hawaiian-grown coffees in a casual cafe setting. Directly comparable to Kalaheo as a Kauai coffee-focused business combining on-site roasting with cafe service.
• Daylight Mind Coffee Company: Hawaii-based coffee roaster and cafe chain serving breakfast and lunch alongside Hawaiian coffees. Comparable to Kalaheo as a Hawaiian cafe brand combining dine-in service with a roasted coffee product line.
• Kilauea Bakery & Pizza: Long-running Kauai cafe-bakery serving breakfast, lunch, and baked goods to locals and visitors. Comparable to Kalaheo as a similar upcountry/casual Kauai dining destination combining cafe fare with a retail bakery/coffee component.
• Green World Coffee Emporium: Honolulu-based Hawaiian coffee roaster and cafe serving locally-grown coffees with a sit-down breakfast and lunch menu. Comparable to Kalaheo as a Hawaiian cafe and roaster operating under a similar casual format.
• Big Island Coffee Roasters: Hawaiian estate coffee grower and roaster with direct-to-consumer online sales of premium Hawaiian beans. Comparable to Kalaheo as a vertically integrated Hawaiian coffee brand operating both retail and online channels.
• Kauai Coffee Company: Largest Hawaiian coffee grower and online retailer, based on the same island as Kalaheo. Directly comparable as a Kauai-based Hawaiian coffee brand with a strong direct-to-consumer e-commerce business selling estate-grown beans.
• Hawaiian Queen Coffee: Kauai-based small-batch Hawaiian coffee roaster selling estate-grown coffee online. Comparable to Kalaheo in its emphasis on Kauai-sourced Hawaiian coffee and direct-to-consumer e-commerce positioning.
• Java Kai: Kauai-based specialty coffee shop and cafe serving breakfast and lunch alongside locally-roasted coffee. Directly comparable to Kalaheo Cafe in format (cafe + coffee focus) and geography (Kauai).

Broad incumbents

• Honolulu Coffee Co. Established Hawaiian cafe brand operating multiple locations across the islands serving Hawaiian-grown coffees and cafe fare. A broader incumbent peer to Kalaheo with similar Hawaiian coffee positioning but at significantly larger scale and geographic reach.

Regional players

• Lava Lava Beach Club: Kauai beachfront restaurant and bar serving casual Hawaiian fare to visitors and locals on a different part of the island. Comparable as another Kauai casual dining destination competing for tourist traffic, though oriented toward dinner and beach experience rather than breakfast.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/KalaheoCafe
• Instagraminstagram.com/KalaheoCafe
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kalaheo-cafe-and-coffee-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kalaheo Cafe and Coffee Company