Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival goes live in March!

If there was ever a day to celebrate coffee, it’s today, the official day in observation of the Rock’s ‘best bean’.

Globally, International Coffee Day is observed on October 1, but in Jamaica, January 8 represents Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Day and the official countdown to the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival (JBMCF).

Last year, nearly 1,200 patrons and 61 vendors convened for the 2024 iteration of the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival; organisers are planning an even bigger, more informed staging this year.

Another objective is to showcase the ways artisans reimagine the world-famous crop to create byproducts and to create and sustain the rich tradition of coffee production.

L: Minister Floyd Green addressed guests at the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival launch on Thursday. R: Shareholders of the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival (L-R) Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) Executive Director Dr Carey Wallace; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Jennifer Griffith; Agriculture Minister Floyd Green; Chair of the Gastronomy Linkages Network Nicola Madden-Greig; Minister of Industry, Investment, & Commerce Senator Aubyn Hill; and Carolyn McDonald-Riley, director of the Tourism Linkages Network Department at TEF. (Photos: Kadeem Rodgers)

Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett, who first introduced the JBMCF in 2018, announced the March 1 staging at ‘our new home, the magnificent Hope Gardens,’ in Kingston.

With a goal of creating a coffee festival marketplace ‘that captures the essence of Jamaica’ through music, entertainment, artisanal creativity, barista competition, coffee, and rum mixology demos, brewing workshops, and coffee-infused fare, among other edutainment activations.

The festival, now onto its eighth staging, is endorsed by Minister of Industry, Investment, and Commerce, Senator Aubyn Hill.

In his address, Hill challenged his colleagues in the ministries of tourism, agriculture, and other government agencies to support and promote more coffee production to meet the demands of global export.

‘As Jamaica’s business minister, I am dedicated to working with stakeholders to develop a strategic road map for market expansion while leveraging existing strongholds in traditional markets. I am committed to help growing a lot more Jamaican coffee and especially Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee for exports around the world…I want to make sure that every single hotel in this country has a Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee kiosk…there are hotels in this country that don’t have Blue Mountain Coffee, that is unacceptable!’

Hill was spirited in his desire to make Jamaican coffee a world-class brand.

‘In 2022, Jamaica was recorded as the 62nd largest exporter of coffee in the world. In the same year, coffee was the 11th most exported product in Jamaica. This is our coffee…let’s celebrate [it],’ he said in closing.

Chair of the gastronomy network, Nicola Madden-Greig handled the formalities and detailed the myriad ways that the linkages network promotes and endorses the production and export of coffee among other Jamaican-made products.

Through partnerships with other government agencies, the linkages network’s main objective is to foster economic growth in the coffee-producing regions islandwide; cultivate cultural engagement; and position Jamaica as a coffee tourism hub via Speed Networking and Christmas In July hallmark events.

Agriculture Minister Floyd Green was next. Green honoured the coffee farmers – the pillars of our celebrated coffee production. ‘You can’t speak about the best coffee unless you speak about the best farmers…’

He recounted the difficult conditions farmers faced over the past two years from drought in 2023 to downpour in 2024, reporting that ‘…one of the challenges our coffee farmers have is accessing their farmers’, before noting the allocation of JM$100m to repairing eight coffee farm roads in the ‘most productive belts’.

Work is ongoing in Hall’s Delight in St Andrew; Clydesdale in St Andrew; from Mahoe to Spring Hill in Portland; and Mount Prospect to Mount Horeb in St Andrew; all valued at JM$46m.

‘We’ve been leading a recovery effort with the JACRA team in parts of Portland and St Andrew, helping farmers rebuild from tropical storm Raphael and Hurricane Beryl.’

According to Minister Green, to date, the ministry has distributed 12,000 seedlings, and over 300 bags of fertilizers, provided help with sourcing pesticides, and chainsaws to help farmers clear their land and encouraged the farmers ‘despite the challenges, to get back out…replant.’

The quality, standards and increased production of coffee are the ministry’s ultimate mission.

Green announced the use of ‘block-chain technology to attach a QR code to every batch of coffee…when you buy Blue Mountain coffee anywhere in the world, you’ll be able to scan that QR code and it will tell you that this is authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee,’ and all the data associated with tracing the production of the coffee.

Something to look forward to in March is the discussion on coffee farming as well as sustainable practices and tours of Blue Mountain coffee farms.

The Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival underscores the Jamaican commitment to preserving a coffee heritage, supporting local farmers and sharing its decorated coffee with the world.

Organisers of the festival promise to maintain Jamaica’s recognition as the premier coffee destination while fostering global appreciation for the product.

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