Why Jablum Gold made with Jamaica peaberry coffee beans are rare
Jablum Gold is made of beans from the Jamaica Blue Mountains. These beans are not only handpicked on the farms, they are also curated in the factories to get the fattest beans and best taste. So no boudbr it’s made in low quantities.
Add peaberries which are made from 1 in every 10 beans on average, then add the duration process and you get an exceedingly rare Jablum Gold peaberries.
This coffee plays its part offering theatre from unpacking the beans, inspecting its pea like nature, smelling, then cupping.
Essentially it makes a great cup for the holidays. The tones are traditional chocolate and spice, but the peaberries give it a crisp tealike fruitiness and smoothness.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/515150216/jamaica-blue-mountain-coffee-8-oz-x-1
Does Wallenford and Jablum ship coffee to my country
Sister companies Wallenford Coffee and Mavis Bank Coffee Factory want to be in every luxury store in the world. But quality takes time to find new markets.
Green beans are best handled by these companies directly but for roasted beans there are options. Each company ships roasted beans globally but they do so at prices which can at times be prohibitive. That’s where brokers enter the picture. Will a 8oz bag of coffee might sell for US$35 directly from these companies, resellers sometimes offer for US$25. Of course buy from sellers on platforms or websites with feedback and knowledge about coffee. Because most Jamaicans don’t drink coffee and think all coffee tastes great.
Jablum and Wallenford were distinct companies until recently acquired by a millionaire, whose officers restructured both companies under a new entity called Specialty Coffee Holdings. The strategy of the Specialty aims to increase green and roasted bean sales to new geographies with special care for China. They want China but they fear bean duplication and thus are searching for a large distributor and roaster.
Five years ago, Russia was a fastest emerging market but the sanctions and the drop in oil prices killed that market almost overnight. The strength of the Russian economy will one day rebound and we await its recovery.
Contextually Japan buys about 75 per cent of total output of coffee from Jamaica. But whats more the remaining 25 per cent sent to other regions actually fights with the some of the 85 per cent repackaged from Japan back to the world.
The Chinese are culturally tea drinkers, but coffee remains popular among youngsters and entrepreneurs which creates a market, particularly for the growing middle class.
Following the Western Financial Crisis in 2008, the Japanese market retracted from buying large supplies of Jamaica coffee. The efforts to market Jamaica coffee in USA and Europe proved difficult with limited budgets. While offloading excess goods in Jamaica would prove futile as the island drinks instant coffee and teas. Additionally, hotels are not required to buy Jamaica coffee.
The price of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee remains at around US$27 per kilogramme in Japan for green beans,and US50 per kilogramme for roasted beans.
New players in Jamaica coffee offering cheaper deals in 2019
So more good news for buyers. When the mist of microclimate clears, new players are seen offering deals for their brands. They hype their beans as the best from the Jamaica Blue Mountain. Yeah so does everyone, yet some coffees taste ordinary and others amazing.
New players in the retail scene include Bawk Coffee, Plantation Blue and one can even say Stoneleigh.
These players all were involved in various aspects of the established trade and broke away to form their own brand. The more players means more competition in the sector which prides itself on a grandfather-taste which predates Starbucks and of course thirdwave.
This taste is distinct and offers amazing coffee without the bells of whistles of modern coffees. JBM (Jamaica Blue Mountain) is just layered-complexity without the hype.
So of course competition led to price cuts of between 10 to 20 per cent on shelves and on selling platforms like ebay and so on. In fact Stoneleigh actually slashed their retail rates by about 30 per cent just to move volumes. Let’s see what happens on reorders.
The context however is that coffee prices in Jamaica have started to fall back in 2016/17 based on global supply and demand factors. But now come 2019 its competition that’s driving the dip at the roasted bean level. What does this mean for consumers… more choice at cheaper prices.
But of course, we all know you can’t just buy JBM blindly. That’s why its important to know your source. We find that all the new brands offer quality but we’d recommend getting someone whether at the brand or a broker to cup it first prior to shipment.
Cheers to great coffee!
Etsy listing available in my shop
Check out this item in my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/listing/520026043/jamaica-blue-mountain-coffee-8-oz-x-4
Airport for Starbucks in Jamaica
A private entity is now actively engaged in raising capital to carry the coffee chain Starbucks to Jamaica, it is understood.
The entity secured the services of an investment house to consider viable methods of raising funds, it is understood.
The players want to put the first location in Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay. There are over 4 million passengers that commute through the airport annually. Visitors to the airport can buy an array of coffees from the airport including from Cafe Blue, Jablum, Coffee Roasters Jamaica.
Earlier this year local media reported that Starbucks is considering entering the island along with other Caribbean territories in the medium term.
Who are the two private sector players seeking to acquire the
Starbucks franchise in Jamaica–They are both in hospitality sector, the
media says.
Of course local players are concerned about the implications of a coffee giant entering the land of luxury coffee. Brands that sell to Starbucks including Amber Estate and Wallenford.
Will Starbucks increase the coffee culture? Will Starbucks improve a
cup of local coffee? Or would it simply increase the price? Let’s see. Not all cafe players are upbeat about the prospects especially those who earn from the tourist market.
jamaicamocha 