A Waikiki coffee shop has become one of Hawaii’s most sought-after culinary destinations, with lines stretching 30 people deep throughout the day for a rare pastry that’s available only twice a year in its hometown.
Unique Partnership drives the phenomenon. Kona Coffee Purveyors, established in 2016 at Waikiki’s International Market Place, exclusively features pastries from B. Patisserie, the James Beard award-winning San Francisco bakery.
“We were their first store outside of San Francisco, and we’re huge fans of them,” explains Jackie Suiter, co-owner of Kona Coffee Purveyors. “We knew that we wanted a bakery concept, and if we could have something as amazing as B. Patisserie, we felt like it would be very aligned with the level of execution we were planning.”
Coveted Creation attracts dedicated followers. The black sesame kouign-amann—available year-round in Hawaii but only twice annually in San Francisco—has become the café’s top-selling item, alongside chocolate banana croissants and madeleines made fresh in their onsite bakery.
Coffee Expertise complements the pastry program. Suiter, a food scientist, wine sommelier, and licensed Q Grader, personally roasts coffee sourced from various Kona farms. “Different parcels of land, and definitely different varietals, can exhibit different qualities of flavor,” she notes.
Despite requests to expand to mainland U.S. cities, Suiter envisions international growth to Japan, Korea, or Singapore, focusing on authentic representation of Kona coffee. “We do feel very protective of our region and our lands and want to make sure that it’s represented well.”
