Wallenford Coffee Co Limited

Description:

In the majestic Blue Mountains of Jamaica grows the world’s finest coffee. At elevations higher than 2,000 feet above sea level, the rich soil and continuous rainfall combine to create conditions perfect for cultivating the world’s most distinguished brews, Wallenford® Jamaica Blue Mountain® Coffee. Famous for its rarity, perfect flavour, intense aroma and balanced taste, this unique coffee soothes the spirit and satisfies the soul.

Matthew Wallen, a Captain in the British Navy, sailed into Jamaica in 1746 and, soon after, pursued his greater passion as a Botanist. Dedicated to his craft, he recorded over 400 varieties of ferns and grew coffee in the Blue Mountains. In this area, the home of Wallenford® Farm, dedicated farmers have cultivated Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee for over 250 years. The Wallenford® Coffee Company is one of the major exporters of both the Jamaica Blue Mountain® and the Jamaica High Mountain® coffee in the country. The company offers a complete line of roa sted coffee products for the local and international markets.

OUR FARMS & PULPERIES

Wallenford® Coffee Company has historically been the largest cultivator of Jamaica Blue Mountain® and Jamaica High Mountain Coffee in the island. The company controls approximately 5,000 acres of Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee land and our operations span two parishes within the Blue Mountains, namely St. Andrew and Portland and three parishes within the High Mountain regions namely Clarendon, St. Catherine and St. James.

The company also owns pulping factories within both regions which carry out the first stage of coffee processing. At these facilities, the beans are washed and removed from the skin (pulp) and are then loaded in trucks, which are transported to our Tarentum Drying & Finishing Works Plant located in the parish of Clarendon. At Tarentum, the beans are dried, hulled, graded, sorted, hand picked and packaged.

Wallenford® prides itself on its farming and production practices which are driven by our mantra of “doing well and doing good.” We work closely with farmers and provide support to their farms, and the surrounding communities. We provide infrastructure as well as inputs to help them cultivate a crop that is profitable for them and can support their families. We also adopt schools in the Coffee growing areas and have provided everything from new kitchens, to internet, to computers and tablets. The result has been a constant improvement in the quality and taste of the coffee that we produce and a strong relationship between Wallenford ® and the coffee communities of Jamaica.

JAMAICA BLUE MOUNTAIN COFFEE

At the eastern end of the island of Jamaica is a majestic range of mountains known as the Blue Mountains and only coffee grown in this precise geographic region is certified 100% Jamaica Blue Mountain® . The brand is a global protected certification mark, meaning only coffee certified by the Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica can be labeled as such.

Arabica Typica is the dominant variety of coffee planted in Jamaica with almost 90% of farmers cultivating the variety. The Arabica Typica is a low yielding variety, but it produces the highest cup qualifications noted for its mild flavour and smoothness. Over the last several decades, the Jamaica Blue Mountain® coffee has developed a reputation that has made it one of the most expensive and sought after coffees in the world.

The Blue Mountains area spans four of Jamaica’s parishes, St. Andrew to south, Portland to the north, St. Mary to the west and St. Thomas to the east. Arising 2,300 meteres (7,500ft) they are some of the highest mountains in the Caribbean. The climate of the region is cool, misty with high rainfall and generous cloud cover. The soil is rich, with excellent drainage.

HISTORY OF COFFEE IN JAMAICA

It was in 1728 that Sir Nicholas Lawes the then Governor of Jamaica imported coffee into an island from Martinique. The cou ntry was ideal for coffee cultivation and nine years after its introduction 83,000 lbs. of coffee was exported. Between 1728 and 1768, the coffee industry developed largely in the lower mountain ranges of St. Andrew, but gradually the cultivation extended into the higher elevations of the Blue Mountains. Since then, the industry has experienced many rises and falls, with some farmers abandoning coffee for livestock and other crops.

In order to save the industry legislation was passed in 1891 to provide instructions in the art of cultivation and curing coffee by sending to certain districts, competent instructors. Efforts were made to increase the production of coffee and to establish a Central Coffee Factory for processing and grading. In 1944 the Government established a Central Coffee Clearing House, where all coffee for export had to be delivered for cleaning and grading. Improvement in the quality of Jamaica’s coffee export was underway. In June 1950 the Coffee Industry Board was established to officially raise and maintain the quality of coffee exported from the island.