Peter Thompson, director general of Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority (JACRA) since September 2021, has been appointed chairman of the Regional Cooperative Program for the Technological Development and Modernization of Coffee Growing (Promecafe), and has set his sights on “intensifying varietal improvement” of coffee in the region.

Thompson, who took the reins in July by virtue of being the head of JACRA, will serve for a year. The chairman is chosen on a rotating basis in alphabetical order from among its member countries — Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Promecafe serves as a research and cooperation network. The entity was started in 1978 as countries came together to find solutions for diseases affecting the coffee berries and plant.

“Promecafe is a body that looks at coffee development within the region. So it focuses heavily on capacity-building, training and of course, any activity that enhances coffee consumption and trade within the block.” Thompson told the Jamaica Observer.

“For this year, the work plan includes intensification of the variety improvement. So again, working with world coffee research to look at new sets of varieties to be distributed. We are looking at what you call a genetic hub, which is to be located in Honduras,” Thompson outlined.

“The genetic hub is to look at improving genetic varieties across the region. We continue to look at frost as it continues to be a threat and with the whole issue of climate variation, it becomes an even greater threat, and varietal improvement becomes even more important because you having areas becoming warmer, rainfall impact becoming less, and with heat, pests become much, much more prolific and also diseases.”

From an organisation seeking answers to issues affecting coffee cultivation in the region, Promecafe has since transcended somewhat to include addressing quality issues, addressing ergonomic practices and the issue of consumption within producing countries.

Coffee variety research

“It has come onboard now looking at varietal issues, with the aim of improving the variety of coffee we have to combat various diseases,” Gusland McCook, advisory and research coordinator, JACRA, told the Business Observer.

The work to look at the variety of coffee is also being done in Jamaica.

“Jamaica’s premium variety that gives that flavour that everybody loves is Arabica Typica but it is prone to many issues — coffee leaf rust and coffee berry borer and other challenges. In addition to being vulnerable to diseases, it’s not one of a more prolific coffees in terms of yield per acre,” Thompson said.

He added: “Part of this group is to look at varieties which have comparable attributes to the Arabica Typica which we in Jamaica. We are doing some varietal trials through Promecafe along with support from World Coffee Research.”

“All coffee growing countries are looking at a number of different varieties. They are looking at varieties which have the ability to withstand pest and disease, and also adaptability in your own country and then the quality of that,” McCook chipped in to provide further details.

He said that paramount to a variety selection is how much it conforms to taste profiles. “That is you shouldn’t be able to lose that intrinsic flavour that you are known for,” McCook continued as he outlined that in selecting a new coffee variety for Jamaica, the regulator will not compromise on the taste profile that has made Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee one of the most sought after in the world.

“It is said that from the lowest point to the highest point of the Blue Mountain, is just 16 kilometres. But it’s steep rise to over 2,000 metres. But one of the key thing is we are impacted by the northeast trade winds. So that wind coming off the sea is coming off with a lot of moisture as it climbs the Blue Mountains, it starts losing its energy, so you get a high cloud cover at different points, which helps to lengthen the ripening period of the coffee.”

“And as that period of ripening lengthens, you have the sugars being developed much more. So the higher altitude coffee gives a much richer taste because they have the sugars being developed much slower with the lengthened ripening period. So it’s a combination of factors which contributed that taste.”

Also to note is that the Arabica variety which was introduced in Jamaica’a Blue Mountains in 1728 has since developed a unique mutation and became known as Coffea arabica var blue mountain.

Tests are now being done on a more sturdy variety, Catimor. Catimor is a cross between Timor coffee (resistant to leaf rust) and Caturra coffee. It was created in Portugal in 1959. It grows and produces fruit very quickly and has very high yields.

Cupping test

“Our major market, which is the Japanese market for the time being, they have been purchasing coffee since the 1950s and they have would’ve acquired that taste over time. So any change in taste will be noticed. I mean just like we have cuppers here who can tell whether the coffee is good or not, they have their cuppers over there who test the coffee coming from here, to make a determination as to whether it fits the profile of a Blue Mountain coffee or not, and that will help to even determine price. Sometimes it affects markets also because they are accustomed to something over years and then you shift and then that is a cause for concern.” Thompson continued.

Cupping is a way to taste, evaluate, and compare the flavour, quality, and potential of a given coffee.

McCook said the country is now testing about 20 varieties of coffee through collaboration with the World Coffee Research as part of evaluating a number of coffee varieties across a number of countries.

“We have gone eight to ten years now doing the research. We are in the cupping quality evaluation stage now, which takes a little while, so probably about 2025, somewhere there about, we should be more conclusive, not saying that we will be selecting one, but we should be more conclusive as to which one is trending along a particular line,”added McCook about the process of selecting a more resilient coffee variety for Jamaican growers.

McCook said after that cupping is done, there will be a discussion with the industry “and we will put it on the table to say, this is a suitable variety and these are the characteristics that form the suitability, whatever they are. That includes, adaptability, cultivation practices, output, etc. It’s not a regulator pushing something down their throats, we need cooperation.”

JACRA is careful in this stage with knowledge that the first attempt at evaluating Catimor failed, because while its yield was much more than the current plants in Jamaica, the quality was poor.

“Now our farmers get carried away because they see the yield and so they rush to plant, which is why the quality assessment is critical,” McCook explained.

But how will they judge the success of their efforts to replace the Arabica Typica with another variety that will cost less to produce, but taste as good as the one that is now being grown?

“I think one of the measurements that could be used to determine whether or not it is successful is market acceptability, because if the market rejects the coffee it means that we have to go back on the drawing board,” Thompson answered.