USA: Kona Brewing Company, Hawai'i's largest brewery, now boasts nearly 90 distributorships in 10 states, including more than 50 in California. By mid-December, the brewery had pumped out nearly 1.5 million gallons — or 11.5 million pints — of beer, Associated Press published on December 26. The brewery is producing six draft beers and three bottled beers and is operating two pub/restaurants that employ nearly 150 people. Currently, the Kona export is available in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Alaska. In 2002, the company added Japan to its list of distribution points, and this year, the numbers show 61 percent growth in sales there. "Now Kona Brewing Company's beer lovers can enjoy a pint of paradise without having to get on a plane," Mattson Davis, the brewery's managing partner said.

Seasonal specials also are on the brewpub's menu. Two favorites are Lilikoi Wheat Ale, flavored with fresh island passion fruit, and Da Grind Kona Coffee Imperial Stout.

The cost of doing business on one of the most isolated islands in the world was a challenge, Davis Said. In 1997, for example, it cost $2.14 to ship a case of empty bottles to Hawai'i and just $1.47 to import a case of beer. So, it was either build a $1 million bottling plant in a non-manufacturing region or find a Mainland partner. The company could make up to 35 % more if its beers were all brewed on the Mainland. "If it were all about the money and the highest profit, we wouldn't be here," Davis said. "It's made right here in Hawai'i and that's really important."

After several alliances, Davis said, in 2001, the company settled into "a symbiotic and creative" partnership with Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. The deal included bottling the Kona brew at Widmer's Portland, Ore., plant, which helps keep down production and distribution costs. In April 2003, Kona Brewing Co. joined the Anheuser-Busch distribution system, a switch that produced immediate results — a 35 % increase in sales that month.

Now the nation's 51st largest brewery and targeting a top 40 slot next year, Kona Brewing Co. claims 10 % of draft sales in Hawai'i and 1.5 % of the state's total beer market.

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