JAMAICA
Coffee farmers across Jamaica are looking for places to sell their products.
The Jamaica Coffee Growers Association is not happy with green bean prices offered by coffee traders, so the association has decided to begin marketing on their own, according to a report by The Gleaner, a Jamaican news site.
The association has an export license and now it needs buyers. Before starting, however, investment money needs to be secured to expand processing facilities. One option may be grant funding.
Jamaican farmers were paid $6,000 per box of beans two years ago but the price dropped to $3,000 this year, association president Donald Salmon told The Gleaner. That price prevents farmers from earning a profit.
"We are the new kid on the block. Starbucks and UCC don't buy from us but we produce good coffee.” Salmon said. “ We are sanctioned by (the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority). We have a model that we are trying to develop whereby we can increase by increments purchasing of both high mountain and Blue Mountain coffee, but we are restricted by market and capital."