Expanding Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee in the EU

What Buyers Want

Expanding Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee in the EU Windward Commodities 30th June 2022

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A separate trademark, Jamaica High Mountain Supreme, has a distinct identity to JBM but little of the taste profile or quality standards. The use of key words, ‘Jamaica’ and ‘Mountain’ can make it confusingly similar in the market. However, the tiny volume that goes to export makes this less relevant to the EU market. Establishing a GI for JBM in the EU would resolve many of these issues and provide the intellectual property backbone to properly protect the brand. This would limit blending – a key concern for some producers and a reason there are few GI’s in the sector – but the trade-off in terms of a consistent brand for consumers and roasters could be significant given that single-origin is where the value is.

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38 | Time to Wake Up and ‘Cup’ the Coffee