User:Jlearner022/Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee

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Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is an Arabica variety of the coffee bean that is called Typica that originated in southwestern Ethiopia.

Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Day
In December 2018, the Japanese Government accepted a motion from the Association of Japanese Importers of Jamaican Coffee (AJIJC) to recognize January 9, 2019 as the very first Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Day. This day is in recognition of January 9, 1967 when 60% of that year's harvest was shipped from the Port of Kingston, Jamaica to Japan. This very large shipment of coffee marked the beginning of a new relationship between Jamaica and Japan after the second world war. To date, Japan continues to be the largest consumer of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee.

The Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee day includes promotional activities that lead up to the day and is celebrated locally in Jamaica and Japan as well as large cities around the world such as New York and London and several Jamaican embassies.

Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Festival
The inaugural Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Festival took place over three days on March 23, 24, 25 in 2018 at Newcastle in St. Andrew, Jamaica. The following year, it occurred on March 1, 2, 3 in 2019 in the same region. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic the event was canceled in 2020. Organizers switched to a virtual event in 2021 that was offered internationally as a live event on social media. The expanded grand festival took place in-person in 2022 on March 4 and lasted a whole month until April 2.

The festival featured Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee products, promoted vendors, and showcased performers, tours, barista competitions and food demonstrations for local and international attendees from producers, processors, consumers and vendors.

The festival offered the opportunity to promote products to tourists, educate current farming producers through a Trade Day, and to create opportunities to form matchmaking for buyers, processors and exporters.

During the festival, workshops, seminars and networking sessions where offered by the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority (JACRA), the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and the Tourism Linkages Network (TLN).