Coffee Industry Stakeholders Urged to Innovate and Explore Value-Added Product Opportunities
By: , March 2, 2025
Photo: Adrian Walker
Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (centre), Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill, and Chair, Gastronomy Linkages Network, Nicola Madden-Greig (right), sample cinnamon cracker pudding with coffee sauce during the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival at Hope Gardens in Kingston on Saturday (March 1). The treat was prepared using, among other ingredients, Excelsior brand crackers which are manufactured by Jamaica Biscuit Company. Looking on in anticipation of their reaction are event host and media personality, Jennifer “Jenny Jenny” Small, and Excelsior employee, Sharifa Rowe.
Photo: Adrian Walker
Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (centre), and Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill (left), converse with Green Bean Café owner, Syldan Thompson, during a tour of vendor booths at the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival at Hope Gardens in Kingston on Saturday (March 1). The event was officially opened by Minister Bartlett.The Full Story
Jamaica’s coffee industry stakeholders are being encouraged to explore the prospects of creating a wider array of value-added products from the commodity.
Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, made the call as he welcomed patrons to the eighth staging of the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival at Hope Gardens in Kingston on Saturday (March 1).
Mr. Bartlett said while much emphasis has been placed on the brew, there are lucrative opportunities in manufacturing coffee derivatives and urged Jamaicans to tap into that market.
“Countries have used the bark of the coffee bean to create all kinds of manufactured goods. They make caps, they make hats; they make ties, and they make mats and all sorts of other items that are useful and have a value,” he noted.
“The derivatives from coffee are far more lucrative [than the brew] and offer great opportunities for upside and downside, lateral and vertical, and all sorts of action that enables wealth creation. We want to make coffee a wealth creating agent, not just an item for gastronomy, but an element of job creation and prosperity,” the Minister added.
Mr. Bartlett stated that the Government is committed to supporting entrepreneurs who are open to exploring ventures in this area.
“Through the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) and the Tourism Linkages Network (TLN), we’re seeking to build capacity, particularly among our small entrepreneurs, to help upscale and enable them to do more with the coffee. So come to us if you have an idea of how to convert the coffee into an item of excitement and thrill… and enjoyment and entertainment… because coffee enables all of that,” he said.
Minister Bartlett advised that funding is available to entrepreneurs through the National Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of Jamaica Limited. He indicated that small entrepreneurs can borrow up to $25 million at a 4.5 per cent interest rate.
The Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival is hosted annually by the TEF.
The event was previously staged in Newcastle, St. Andrew, but was relocated to the larger Hope Gardens venue this year to alleviate accessibility issues and facilitate more patrons and exhibitors.
A total of 60 local artisans showcased a variety of coffee-infused products in the Festival Marketplace.