Blue Mountain Blues
It may or may not be because of the current world financial crisis, but the International Herald Tribune reports that several key buyers of the famous Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee, have recently pulled out, causing concerns about a possible drop in the price of this famous coffee bean.
Jamaica exported some 16,200 tons (15,000 metric tons) of Blue Mountain coffee last year. Its output is largely bought by eight large companies, including Coffee Traders and Government-owned Wallenford. Jamaica exports US$30 million of Blue Mountain annually, of which 85 percent is shipped to Japan, while Britain and the U.S. are the next biggest markets for the iconic bean.
There have been issues in the past with Blue Mountain, which achieved so much acclaim that some less-than-reputable coffee companies mixed inferior beans with the genuine article, and marketed the resulting blend as pure Blue Mountain.
However, the current concerns appear much more closely linked to the current world market conditions.
