Capital: Kingston
Area: 11,420 sq km
Population: 2.8 Million
Language: English
Currency: Jamaican Dollar
Annual Production: 11,600 60kg bags
Coffee Producing Area: Variable
Producing Regions: Blue Mountain and Middlesex Country
Coffee Varietals: Heirloom
Terrain: West: Low mountain ranges, Centre/North: Plateaus
Altitude: 700m-2000m
Soil: Volcanic
Harvest: August-September
The Jamaican coffee industry started from three coffee plants sent in 1723 and a single plant sent in 1728 from the French in Martinique.
Jamaica is renowned for producing one the World’s most prestigious coffees; coffee thrives in the hilltops of the Blue Mountains where elevations can reach upward of 2,000m. The volcanic soil is fertile, the climate provides plenty of rainfall and the altitude protects the crops from the heat of the sun due to the misty cloud cover present.
In order to sustain the exceptional quality buyers expect – every barrel of coffee exported must go through the Coffee Industry Board for rigorous inspection.