The discovery of new music mirrors the journey of realizing a new taste in the coffee that I drink every day.
I hope you enjoy our new weekly music playlist.
Haiti Coffee Weekly Grind Mix Vol.2
#haiticoffeeweeklygrind
The inspiration behind this week's mix came from a desire to reach out to our community and share something we love just as much as we do our coffee. Wishing you all the best as you navigate this time we are in. We'd love to be there with you in any way possible.
Whether it's drinking our coffee or listening to good vibes we are right here with you.
LOVE
David Pierre-Louis - CEO
PS Photo Credit - Kids Tube
]]>One of the most notable aspects of Haitian history is that the nation is the only one to have emerged as the result of a successful slave rebellion. From 1791 through 1804, enslaved people and their allies in Saint-Domingue fought a protracted revolution to win their independence from France. This was not the first episode of rebellion or fear of rebellion, as the case of François Makandal shows, but it was the most successful. After a ceremony at Bois Caïman, the rebellion began in August 1791. Within a few weeks, the insurrection grew to include more than one hundred thousand participants who destroyed hundreds of plantationsIn the early 1990's coffee cultivation in Haiti was affected by trade embargos, as well as coffee rust (Hemileia vastatrix), a fungal disease that attacked the coffee bean plant. (Coffee Research Institute, CRS). With the help of USAID and the Inter American Development Bank, the Fédération des Associations Caféières Natives (FACN) was created in an effort to improve the processing and quality of Haiti’s coffee. This coffee was trademarked Haitian Blue and improved sales through contracts through 2005 for some regions in Haiti (Development Alternatives, Inc.). The FACN is currently bankrupt.
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Coffee: Coffee was introduced to Haiti in 1725 by the Jesuits in the commune of Terrier Rouge from arabica seedlings from Martinique. A decade later coffee was planted at Dondon, another community located at an altitude of 450 meters in the département du Nord. Coffee then spread to all 10 departments thriving in colonial times. Haiti became a valuable producer on the international market producing 50% of the world’s coffee. The decline of the coffee sector in Haiti started around the beginning of the 1970s with the lowering of the price of coffee on the international market. From 1971 to 1982, the coffee acreage rose to approximately 140,000 hectars. In 2010, coffee was down to 115,000 hectars producing an average 250 kg per hectare nationally, due to pestilence and lack of use of fertilizers. The result was a decrease in domestic production from 45,720 tonnes in 1962 to 21,000 tonnes in 2006.
In the early 1990's coffee cultivation in Haiti was affected by trade embargos, as well as coffee rust (Hemileia vastatrix), a fungal disease that attacked the coffee bean plant. (Coffee Research Institute, CRS). With the help of USAID and the Inter American Development Bank, the Fédération des Associations Caféières Natives (FACN) was created in an effort to improve the processing and quality of Haiti’s coffee. This coffee was trademarked Haitian Blue and improved sales through contracts through 2005 for some regions in Haiti (Development Alternatives, Inc.). The FACN is currently bankrupt.
Until recently, few Haitians (150,000-200,000:CRS report) could make a living growing coffee and the knowledge was becoming lost with the passing of the older generation. There was more value in cutting the trees for charcoal than processing and selling the beans. The name Haitian Blue became synonymous with wet processed coffee from anywhere in Haiti. The trademark restrictions are no longer being respected. The reputation of Haitian Blue is still revered in knowledgeable circles but not widely known among consumers.
Since 2011, millions of coffee seedlings have been planted throughout Haiti, by numerous organization, and Haitian farmers. Haiti Coffee Co was instrumental in helping nurseries and farmers obtain Haitian Blue Mountain seeds, seedling bags, EM1 Microbial Inoculants, access to experts and modern coffee knowledge. These efforts have paid off and resulted in the largest coffee harvest in decades. (Awaiting current statistics)
In Haiti, ripe cherries can be picked year round but the two peak seasons are Fall and Spring. This varies by location and depends year to year on the weather. Generally the best season is September to January with the peak being in October and November.
]]>Dear Friends,
It has been some time since I posted on my blog. Yes, I have been busy, but the good news is that I was busy starting a new company. HaitiCoffee.com is now up and running and selling its first shipment of Haitian coffee in the USA
So how did a veterinarian end up in the coffee business?
Its a short story actually. Fate. I started looking into coffee as an income opportunity when several rabbit producers asked me if I knew where they could sell their coffee. Sales were way down and many coffee farmers had been cutting their trees to plant new products. I was also interested in coffee as an export because of our future interest in exporting rabbit. The more I researched coffee the more impressed I was with the potential. All the elements of the value chain still existed, but it had become fragmented.
Historically, from plant to cup, Haiti's coffee had an excellent reputation. In the 1700's Haiti produced 50% of the world's (or Europe at the time) coffee. It is reminiscent of Kona coffee with less of the caffeine jitters. It is grown largely in the mountains, shade grown and basically organic since there are no chemical options available in Haiti.
The industry took a severe downturn in the 80's with the embargo, was partially revived earlier this century when Haitian Blue coffee was created and promoted with assistance from USAID. Haitian Blue is a roasted and trademarked coffee that is made from wet processed beans grown throughout Haiti. It gained an excellent reputation, but became hard to find when management infrastructure ran into problems. So the farmers ended up sitting on beans with no market.
The more I researched coffee, the more fate placed opportunities in my path to reconnect the dots of the value chain. It was raining beans in my life by the time Yves showed up at my house for a Bay Area Haiti Network potluck. He went to Haiti as a Farmer to Farmer volunteer to further research the cooperatives and problems facing the coffee farmers. This resulted in valuable information and contact that lead ultimately to our first shipment of coffee and our partnership in Haiti Coffee. It was a challenge but in the end we learned so much in the last few months and have set up what seems to be a reliable system for exporting the coffee. 70 women had a job for several days picking through the beans. They were thrilled as coffee production has been a major source of income in this community and is something they know and do well. We are looking forward to doing business with them next season.
Our next challenge will be to build up enough capital to ship full containers at a time. It is an exciting time to be in the coffee business. Next month I hope to attend a conference on Fairtrade and other certification programs to see what is best for Haiti. The little research I have done raises more questions than answers. Hmmmm.