Puerto Rico coffee producing area with a history of 300 years

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.

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?