Coffee was first cultivated on a trial basis in Kukeng during the Japanese occupation era. The coffee beans were imported by Japanese from South America, and are of the same variety as Brazilian coffee. At that time, the area of Huashan in Kukeng had a state-run farm, and residents mostly cultivated coffee to make a living.
古坑在日據時期曾嘗試種咖啡，樹種是日本人從南美引進，屬於巴西咖啡的品種，當時的古坑華山地區有公營的經濟農場，居民多以種植咖啡營生。