Quality Assurance

THE NEW quality regime which went into effect on October 1 for locally roasted and sold Blue Mountain Coffee aims to ensure that the minimum quality of coffee packaged for local or overseas markets is of exportable grade. Prior to this, the Coffee Industry Board's (CIB) procedures were focused mainly on quality assurance of produce for the export market but, according to Director General Christopher Gentles, there were problems. "What transpired before is that from time to time the market would define a certain price point and roasters would attempt to find a quality coffee to match it. What we found over an extensive period of testing over the past few years, is some people were supplying a quality of product that was not consistent with Jamaica Blue Mountain standard, it was lower," he told AgroGleaner.

The CIB then embarked on establishing a quality regime which saw it providing guidance and training for roasters, helping them to understand and appreciate the importance of meeting the new standards at all times. Higher production costs in meeting the new standards has resulted in price increases of between 30 and 50 per cent for locally roasted coffee and 20-25 per cent for instant coffee, depending, of course, on the brand.

While commodity coffee has also seen a price hike across the world, the impact is not quite the same, according to Gentles. "When you have a coffee at a price point of $2.50 per pound or $5.50 per kilo, the demand curve is very different than when the coffee is selling for $10, $15 a pound or $22 to $40 a kilogramme."

Blue Mountain Coffee today is seeing a 30 per cent decline in average sale price compared to five years ago when the Jamaican brand was on a high. Despite the slowing demand, the CIB has stepped up its promotional efforts, venturing into new

markets, which it must continue to do, in keeping with the image of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee.

"In marketing Jamaican coffee, you have to understand that a certain image has to be kept up and other luxury brands have gone through this in years gone by," Gentles explained. So instead of slowing, the CIB in collaboration with the Government of Jamaica stepped up its promotional trips on the international circuit. Japan was the focus of some of these high-level delegations which included Agriculture Minister Robert Montague.

Minister Montague attended the Specialty Coffee Association of Japan show which is the premium coffee exhibition in Japan where most of the world specialty coffees are marketed. Specialty coffees sell for around US$2.50 to US$4.50 per pound and then there are premium exotic coffees, including Jamaican and Hawaiian coffee along with others such as the Cup of Excellence coffees, which occupy the very top of the price tier.

It was at this show that Jamaica won third prize for the most popular booth, quite an achievement, according to the director general of the CIB, in light of its limited budget.

"Our booth which had a picture of Yendi Phillips and had a High Mountain Coffee promotion with a new product like a coffee snow cone with condensed milk, which I think had a uniquely Jamaican flavour, that was what contributed to the booth's popularity."

The success of this and other initiatives is due in large measure to collaboration with overseas trading partners including the Association of Japanese Importers, which has been working with the Jamaican coffee exporters and CIB to have a number of promotions throughout the year.

Even with the slump in its rate of sales, Gentles is very upbeat about the future of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, even against the impact of some external shock.

"Now we believe that some of these promotions have been effective and would have been much more effective if the programme was funded a lot better and if the Japanese economy hadn't suffered the recent shock with the earthquake and the tsunami. We believe these programmes would have been more effective and more efficient.

"Despite this, we have sold almost 85 per cent of our exportable coffee this year. We have very little left and we have a number of shipments leaving right now. So I would say that these market forays we have done have been effective and yielded results. The results are not what we would have liked because the economy is what it is, but the reality is that there are other countries which are in a much worse position," said Gentles.

christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com