The Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority (JACRA) last week officially opened the doors to its new multifaceted coffee warehouse located off Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston.

The more than 1,000 square metre warehouse ground will be used to house coffee from producers across Jamaica for quality testing and eventual export to buyers across the world.

Boasting state-of-the-art features such as temperature and humidity control, the warehouse utilises product traceability technology to map shipment stages and an on-site laboratory for cupping and quality testing of export ready coffee — all of which are powered by the expertise of qualified staff members.

Speaking at the opening ceremony last Friday, June 14, acting director general at JACRA Wayne Hunter said the facility will help to further position Jamaica’s coffee among the world’s most premium brands.

“It is without doubt that Jamaica’s Blue Mountain and High Mountain Coffee are the best in the world — and now with a facility like the JACRA coffee warehouse, greater efforts can now be made to keep our coffee it its current prestigious position,” he said.

JACRA, in investing over $32 million in the redevelopment of the warehouse, said its hope is for the facility to stand as a gatekeeper in the market, ensuring that all the necessary checks and balances are done so as to ensure that only quality products make their way unto global shelves.

“We know that we have the best coffee in the world…we have a unique taste, we have unique flavour profiles and we have seen how coffee has significantly contributed to the Jamaican economy, earning us over US$25 million each year,” Minister of Agriculture Floyd Green said in his remarks.

Lauding the efforts of local coffee farmers in producing top rated products despite various challenges spread across labour shortages, low prices, poor road networks and climate change impacts, Green said it is their role that has continued to ensure that we maintain a robust coffee industry.

“There is no coffee export without our coffee farmers and we must remember that anything we do, the core of what we do is [often linked] to what is happening on the ground,” he noted.

JACRA, an agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, was established for the development, regulation, and standardisation of the agricultural commodities industry. In its current regulatory function, it oversees a number of commodities including coffee, cocoa, coconut and spices (nutmeg, pimento, ginger, and turmeric). Partnering with various stakeholders across industries, the entity works to promote and ensure the quality and integrity of the regulated commodities. Among its list of stakeholder partners in the coffee industry are the Jamaica Coffee Exporters Association (JCEA), the Jamaica Coffee Growers Association (JCGA).

President of the JCEA Norman Grant, in welcoming the new coffee warehouse as a much-needed addition, said it will help to set apart Jamaica’s coffee on the world stage, validating its potency based on the advanced levels of testing it will undergo before becoming certified.

“The opening of this warehouse signals another game-changing move in the coffee industry. I say so, because when we export Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee, which is certified here at JACRA, it enters the global marketplace and finds itself into bonded warehouses around the world, which means we are in line with global standards,” Grant said.