KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica has sent its first shipment of unroasted coffee beans to China in a bid to broaden the market for the island’s gourmet coffee.
Agriculture Minister Christopher Tufton says Tuesday’s shipment of more than a dozen tons of green coffee beans is certain to broaden the market for Blue Mountain coffee.
Roughly 85 percent of the popular bean has been shipped annually to Japan. Britain and the U.S. are the next biggest markets for Blue Mountain coffee, which earns Jamaica roughly $30 million annually.
The coffee industry is one of Jamaica’s largest earners of foreign currency.
Tufton says the coffee was shipped to a group of independent Chinese companies. He says 25 percent of the deal’s 70-ton total was shipped Tuesday.
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