Puerto Rico La Reyoco Coffee Estate Flavor Taste Characteristics Boutique Coffee Bean Introduction

In history, sugarcane planting was the main industry, and post-industry surpassed agriculture to become the pillar of the economy. Front

San Juan new city

San Juan new city

The five major economic sectors are manufacturing, finance, insurance and real estate, other services, government expenditure and trade. The main industries include pharmaceuticals, electronics, petrochemical, food processing, textiles and clothing, etc. Tourism is also an important part of the Polish economy, accounting for 7% of Poland's total revenue in 2009. [1]

In 2011, GDP totaled US $98.76 billion, with a per capita GDP of US $26588, which is lower than that of the states in the United States, but it is the highest compared with the Caribbean island countries, and its economic competitiveness is also one of the highest in the Caribbean region. [1]

According to statistics from the US Department of Commerce, in 2012, Puerto Rico's foreign trade totaled about US $44.5 billion, of which exports were about US $18.7 billion, an increase of 2.6 per cent over the same period last year and accounting for 1.2 per cent of total US exports. The top five export markets are Belgium (2.4 billion), the Netherlands (2.1 billion), Japan (1.8 billion), Italy (1.6 billion) and the United Kingdom (1.5 billion). The products with the largest export volume were chemical products (15.2 billion, accounting for 81.6% of the total exports), computers and electronic products (400 million), electrical equipment and accessories (300 million), waste and scrap (300 million), and primary metal products (200 million). [1]

Imports totaled about $25.8 billion in 2012, up 4.8 per cent from a year earlier and accounting for 1.1 per cent of total US imports. The top five sources of imports are Ireland (7.6 billion), Singapore (4.1 billion), Japan (1.9 billion), Brazil (1.3 billion) and China (860 million). The main imported products include: chemical products (14.4 billion, accounting for 55.8% of the total import value), crude oil and coal products (5.6 billion), transportation equipment (800 million), oil and gas products (600 million), food (600 million), etc. [1]

On June 17, 2015, Puerto Rico Governor Garcia publicly admitted that the authorities were working on a proposal to ask the United States Congress to allow heavily indebted local governments to declare bankruptcy. After a decade of economic hardship, Puerto Rico has a debt of $72 billion.

Culture and education

With the advance of modernization, the Americanization of Puerto Rican culture is becoming more and more obvious. However, people of insight on the island believe that Puerto Rican culture should not be assimilated into the mainstream culture of the United States, otherwise the national identity of Puerto Rico will be lost. This proposition is closely linked to the debate over the political status of Puerto Rico and has become a political issue of concern to every Puerto Rican. The issue of language is one of the focuses of debate. When the people's Democratic Party came to power, it regained the priority of Spanish, but as time went on, English became more and more important. The direction of the development of Puerto Rican culture is still an open question. Education is relatively developed. The government has always attached importance to education and provides free and compulsory education for students aged 6 and 16. Classes are taught in Spanish, but English is a compulsory course. Higher education is well developed

Puerto Rico has a history of producing coffee for nearly 300 years and was once one of the most productive regions in the world. According to the Starbucks website, Spanish explorers brought coffee from Louis XIV plantations in France to the island in 1736. The fame of Yaucono Selecto is once indistinguishable from that of Kona in Hawaii and Blue Mountain in Jamaica. It is also a favorite of European palaces and the Vatican. Until the 19th century, it was the only cafe in Vienna, Paris and Madrid.

But today, outside the island, Puerto Rican coffee is rarely seen or heard of, and even its major shareholder Coca-Cola is not actively promoting it. Instead, coffee from Puerto Rico and Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic is mixed and roasted without specifying its origin.

What is the reason for the decline of coffee in Puerto Rico?

Puerto Rico has been in the news lately because its government, which has been saddled with $70 billion in debt for years, officially defaulted in August. Its embarrassing situation originated from the Spanish-American War in 1898, when Spain surrendered Puerto Rico to the United States, making it a commonwealth of the United States in the Caribbean. Unlike the 50 local states, some federal benefits are not available to it, but rules and regulations must be observed. Puerto Rico has had four referendums, the last in 2012, when 61% of its citizens approved it as the 51st state in the United States, but waiting for Congress to pass is a long way off. The state government is so unable to be protected by the bankruptcy law after default that it is jokingly called the Greece of the United States because their financial situation is similar to their political relations with the United States and the European Union.

The decline of Puerto Rico's coffee industry has a lot to do with its awkward economic and political situation. During the Spanish-American War, the United States had established a strong and lasting coffee trade agreement with Brazil, a coffee giant, and did not give too much thought to Puerto Rico, which had just been successful. Moreover, the economic purpose of the United States in the Caribbean is mainly focused on the sugar industry, which has made the local sugar cane production so booming that small-scale coffee retail investors have no way to fight, and coffee manufacturers who can survive have to merge again and again to retain their strength. It is said that the quality of local varieties has also been affected.

Nowadays, the coffee in Puerto Rico is not even enough for domestic demand, and it still needs to import raw beans from other places for baking, so we don't know how much of the coffee we snapped up was picked on the island.