Any yone bought the good stuff lately? How's supply and pricing look? I'm tapped out here, but we arrive Friday and I want to brace for sticker shock.
Any yone bought the good stuff lately? How's supply and pricing look? I'm tapped out here, but we arrive Friday and I want to brace for sticker shock.
When we were there in June/July, it was ridiculously high. We went to High Mountain coffee. It's not Blue Mountain, but pretty close, and a far cry from Maxwell House! In Feb., it was about USD35.00/lb; with "high end brands" up to USD50.00/lb.
In April of this year I purchase 6 pounds of whole beans for $30 each. Best that I could find. They make great gifts for friends who like good coffee. I used to pay $17 but those days are over. Good Luck.
I remember the days of $15-$20/# as well. I don't expect to see those days again unless the Japanese decide to give up coffee... I've been told many times that this is the big reason for the low supply/high price conundrum. Maybe I'm just that gullible. That said, $30/# is better than the $45 I spent last year. Well see how it goes.
According to the 03Oct2017 Gleaner, there may be more Blue Mountain around - not good for the farmers...
Quotation from the Gleaner (free content from their webpage) follows: (post edited to include the not free - copyrighted content link to the Gleaner)
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/n...mountain-beans
A major crisis is looming in Jamaica's coffee industry as traders in Japan, which is the main market for the island's premium brand Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, have refused to enter into new contracts with local producers.
This was revealed today by Agriculture and Commerce Minister Karl Samuda at a press conference at his ministry's office in New Kingston.
According to Samuda, Japanese coffee traders have out rightly refused to pay more than US$40 per kilogramme for Blue Mountain coffee and have rejected attempts to renegotiate contracts that would see them paying more for the premium brand Jamaican coffee.
The US$40 per kilogramme is less than the US$60 that the Japanese have been paying in the last two years.
Well, at least that confirms what I had been told by vendors about rampant Japanese consumption of JaBlum... not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just that it's made it very difficult for me to justify the cost of MY habit. Hopefully that's taken some pricing pressure off.
It will likely reduce prices by simple supply and demand, at least in the short term. I could see this having some real negative impact beyond hurting the farmers' bottom line. If prices drop low enough, there won't be the same demand to continue growing the same way that they do currently, and quality may start to slip.
Thanks for the edit Rob - I wasn't sure if including the link was bad or good. I will try to remember for next time!
Originally Posted by Odinson
I was wandering a few of the beach shops early this week and found a mix. One shop really disappointed with a display of "100% Jamaican etc." brand that I'd never seen before. Naturally, he doubled down on its seal's authenticity at $25, and said that I'd have a tough time finding JABLUM anywhere for less than US $65, calling it the "gold standard" (no duh).
Fortunately, his knowledge of availability was as lacking as his honesty, as I dropped in on my go-to guy at the gift shop at Negril Palms. He had freshly dated inventory (use by October 2018), genuine packages of JABLUM brand whole beans at a fair price... If you're there and in the market, drop in to see him.
One good thing about a caffeine restricted diet is you can't get upset about the price of "Jablum." Not sure it ever merited the cost, frankly. I can buy 2 pounds of Columbian decaf (many other kinds $14-$28) for $19 shipped to my door.
We're all in this together and none of us is getting out alive.
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