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Blue Mountain Coffee Farmers tighten their bellies and the Japanese watch their pockets and switch to drinking cheap coffee

Published: 2026-02-26 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/02/26, Jamaica's top Blue Mountain Coffee is famous all over the world, but farmers who grow coffee beans in the Blue Mountains are now in trouble. With the global economic downturn, Japanese customers, the main consumers of Blue Mountain Coffee, are saving money, hitting farmers' livelihoods and being forced to live on their bellies. The temperature in the Blue Mountains is cool and humid, and coffee beans planted above 1600 meters above sea level are regarded as the best varieties by many coffee lovers.

Jamaica's top Blue Mountain Coffee is famous all over the world, but farmers who grow coffee beans in the Blue Mountains are now in trouble. With the global economic downturn, Japanese customers, the main consumers of Blue Mountain Coffee, are saving money, hitting farmers' livelihoods and being forced to live on their bellies.

The temperature of Blue Mountain is cool and humid, and coffee beans planted above 1600 meters above sea level are regarded as a good variety by many coffee lovers. They think that the entrance of Blue Mountain coffee is smooth, with nutty aroma and a long return. Roasted Blue Mountain beans (see photo) usually sell for about $40 a pound in the United States, four times as much as other coffee, the Associated Press reported.

In Japan, the main market, the price can be as high as $34 per 100 grams. But as the global economy slips into recession, coffee fans are saving money and switching to cheaper beans, boosting sales of affordable coffee. Toshio Nisano, managing director of the all-Japan Coffee Association, said: "consumers really need to keep an eye on their pockets and instead of enjoying Blue Mountain coffee, they switch to drinks from Colombia and Brazil, which are more popular at present. "

Merchants reduce the purchase of Blue Mountain Coffee and increase the cost of planting

The interest of Blue Mountain coffee fans has waned, and coffee merchants have reduced their purchases, which has greatly reduced the income of farmers. The Coffee Industry Authority of Jamaica says farmers earned an average of $50.57 per box of 60-pound Blue Mountain coffee sold in the 2006-2007 quarter, up from $28.91 last year.

To make matters worse, the rising cost of growing Blue Mountain Coffee, rising prices of fertilizers and pesticides, coupled with wind disasters and coffee fruit beetles, nearly doubled the cost per acre of Blue Mountain Coffee between 2005 and 2009. from $3400 to more than $7000. More and more farmers admit that they can no longer make a living by growing coffee, and their farmland is abandoned and covered with low trees and bamboo trees.

McClaren, a two-generation farmer, said: "We used to be able to make ends meet, but now we still have to go hungry, and life is getting harder and harder. McClaren said that in order to keep the farmland fertile and not lose money on the investment, he would like to collect fertilizer instead of cash as coffee money. Only 140000 cases of 60-pound Blue Mountain Coffee are expected to be produced this year, far below the record-breaking nearly 530000 cases in 2003.

Simon, president of the all-Island Coffee producers Association of Jamaica, believes that the local coffee industry is in trouble because it has only focused on the Japanese market for many years without diversifying its investment. The Coffee Industry Bureau is currently trying to promote Blue Mountain Coffee to the United States and Europe, and the Chinese market is also one of the authorities' goals.