Jamaican Fair Trade Brings True Blue Mountain Coffee to the Midwest

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Dave Bent of Jamaican Fair Trade, a coffee import business that specializes in bringing authentic Blue Mountain coffee from Jamaica to the Midwest, had never been much of a coffee aficionado. Java was just something he drank with cream and sugar as a pick-me-up while working as a late-night supervisor.

But his outlook on coffee changed approximately eight years ago during a trip to Jamaica for a family wedding. There, he tried authentic Blue Mountain coffee, a type of coffee grown in the picturesque Blue Mountain range in Jamaica.

“I ordered Blue Mountain coffee at a restaurant in Jamaica. When I asked for cream and sugar, the server encouraged me to try it black,” Bent recalls. “I was like, ‘wow!’ It was smooth, with no bitter aftertaste. It’s a great coffee.”

Blue Mountain coffee is grown at steep elevations, approximately 2,000 to 5,500 feet, in the Blue Mountain range north of Kingston. Bent says the coffee is grown in volcanic soil, which helps reduce the acidity and lends to a smooth flavor, with no bitter aftertaste and hints of cocoa in the flavor profile. The cooler, misty climate of the Blue Mountains moderates temperatures and enhances soil and plant health.

Bent’s parents were born in Jamaica and emigrated to the United States during the late ‘70s. “My biggest aspiration was to do something to celebrate the culture and help the people of Jamaica,” he says. “Many tourists that visit Jamaica just go to the beaches and luxurious resorts that Americanize the Jamaican culture. My parents grew up in the poorer parts of Jamaica, and I wanted to do something to give back to their economy and help the small farmers.”

Helping Jamaican Farmers 

To start Jamaican Fair Trade, Bent worked with the Jamaican Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority (JACRA), the Jamaican statutory body that regulates, promotes and standardizes the country’s agricultural commodities such as cocoa, coffee, coconut and spices.

“Through JACRA, I researched what was involved with becoming an exporter of the bean and went through whole qualification process, which took about six months,” Bent explains. He was then able to source coffee from an approved list of farmers and shippers.

Bent was adamant on making sure he worked with small family farms so revenue would go directly to the Jamaican economy. “Some Jamaican coffee farms are getting bought up by businesses in Japan and Europe. I wanted to make sure the money is going directly into the Jamaican economy.”

In 2021, Bent had the opportunity to tour the coffee farm from where he sources coffee. “The farmers made one of the best scratch-made meals I had ever had, with fresh fruit, lemonade, coffee—straight from the farm, of course—fresh fish caught earlier that day, and breadfruit (a tropical fruit that tastes like an artichoke or a potato, depending on the maturity) roasted on a campfire. Their gratitude was lovely. It was a very humbling experience.”

Blue Mountain coffee is a unique, sought after coffee, and Bent notes that it has a lot of imitators. Some companies try to pass off coffee as Blue Mountain even it’s not. “The government (of Jamaica) regulates Blue Mountain coffee to make sure it’s authentic. It’s one of the island’s biggest exports. The coffee is checked for bean size, acidity and smoothness.”

Challenges facing smaller Jamaican coffee farms include inability to purchase bean sorting machinery or other processing equipment. Farmers are also challenged if they do not have adequate transportation to travel 2,000-plus feet up and down the steep elevations.

Bent has learned along his journey, about the ins-and-outs of international exporting. He’s fine-tuned his operations to better communicate directly with Jamaican coffee farmers through tools like WhatsApp, a free international messaging and video calling app.

Jamaican Fair Trade is a Certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) through the state of Wisconsin. The coffee is sold in grounds, whole bean, K-cups and eight-ounce bottles of cold brew. It’s available online or locally at Just Goods fair trade shop, in Shorewood; PJ Piper Pancakes, in Cedarburg; and Willy Street Co-op, in Madison. Bent will be at the Milwaukee Night Market July, August and September; the Shorewood Farmers Market, and the MKE Black Summer Marketplace, at Deer District, during July and August.

For more information, visit jamaicanfairtrade.com