Cuban Coffee History:

Coffee production was introduced to Cuban society in the mid-18th century. By 1790, Cuba was a one of the principal exporters to Spain. Not long after, French coffee farmers who were at the time fleeing the Haitian revolution established themselves in Cuba to continue their trade. This further developed the coffee industry on the Island of Cuba. The humidhumid environment of Cuba, along with its highly fertile soil served to develop the Cuban coffee industry rapidly.

By the 1820s, the coffee industry was one of the largest agricultural assets in Cuba's growing economy. Prior to the Cuban Revolution in 1956, Cuba was exporting 20,000 metric tons of coffee valued at over $20 million and was producing a yield of over 300 pounds of coffee per growing acre.

With the Cuban Revolution came the nationalization of entire industries within Cuba, including the coffee farms. This led to the decline of the coffee industry in general. Production levels during the late 1960s and 1970s dropped to 1920s levels. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the industry had a slight recovery only to be hit hard by the demise of the Soviet Union (Cuba's principle benefactor) in 1990.

What led to the decline of Cuba's coffee industry? First, Cuba's economic downfall led to migration to urban centers which weakend the labor force available to the coffee growers. Second, in an effort to strengthen the coffee industry during the 1960s, the government aimed at developing a coffee growing belt along the outskirts of Havana by using a volunteer labor force. The replacement of traditional coffee farmers with volunteers who knew nothing about coffee greatly affected the industry. The program was a failure and in order to redeem itself the government established yet another program in 1989 under the direction of Raul Castro, Fidel Castro's brother. The later program, known as the Turquino program, improved the agricultural infrastructure and offered agricultural workers better housing. Nevertheless, the program did not attract much attention.

Cuban Coffee Industry

USA & Miami
The United States is the top importer of coffee worldwide. According to the 2001 National Coffee Association's annual Coffee Drinking Trends survey, 52% of American adults drink coffee every day. Twenty-nine million American adults drink gourmet coffee each day. In 2003, the United States imported 22,907,630 sixty kilo bags according to the International Coffee Organization.

Pilon Coffee: Prior to the Cuban revolution, Café Pilon had been a widely popular brand in Cuba, available nationally.

Meanwhile, the Miami-based Café Pilon, a brand owned by Rowland Roasters, generates $70 million in annual sales selling their version of Cuban coffee, primarily to the roughly 1.4 million Cuban-Americans living in the USA. Rowland have turned Café Pilon into a best-selling brand by marketing the coffee as "the one to use when you want authentic Cuban coffee". The brand has it's roots in Cuba dating back to the 1860s. Other well known commercial cuban style coffees are Bustello, Tu Cafe, and Cafe Llave.

Cuba
Cuba is presently struggling to maintain coffee production as a viable industry. Harsh climatic conditions, regular hurricane damage to crops, out-of-date technology, and massive rural-urban migration have contributed to deteriorated roads and an inadequate work force. According to CubaNews, “The loss of experienced workers has forced the government to rely on unpaid middle-and high-school students to harvest the coffee crop.”

According to Cuba's Ministry of Agriculture's Cuba-Café-Cacao Agribusiness group, new varieties of Cuban coffee are being prepared for export with focused interest on the Japanese market. The top importers of Cuban coffee (made with authentic Cuban coffee beans) are Japan, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland and the Netherlands. However, the export of Cuban coffee still remains a disappointment when compared to pre-Revolution statistics. According to Tea and Coffee Magazine, "export revenue from coffee comes to just 1% of the total value of Cuban exports, down from 3.9% in 1956."

Coffee holds traditional value and historic cultural significance for Cubans. It reminds Cubans of their origins as "campesinos" or their origins as peasant/rural-dwellers as well as the historical and economic importance of slavery and sugar and coffee plantations (along with tobacco, these were the top three exports during Cuba's birth as a nation in the early 1900s). In addition, for many the small cup of coffee is not just their much-needed caffeine fix for the day, but also their time to socialize and unwind at their local cafeteria.

Cubans today are only alloted 2 ounces of coffee every 15 days. The coffee's quality sufers greatly since it is mixed in with other ingredients to render greater quantities.

Cubaexport is the only exporter of coffee in Cuba and pays a fixed price (regulated by the government) to the processing center. Japan and France currently account for 70-80 percent of Cuban coffee exports; other importers of Cuban coffee include Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Certainly, an opening of trade relations between the U.S. and Cuba would likely lead to greater sales on the international market and greater production.

Well known current cuban coffee brands are Cubita Coffee, Serrano Coffee, and Estrella del Norte.