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The enterprising husband-and-wife team of Jonathan and Paula on 24th November 2011, 2:52 pm
Desmond
Number of posts: 179
Age: 28
Registration date: 2006-07-13
The enterprising husband-and-wife team of Jonathan and Paula Surtees is proud to announce Island Coffees, Jamaica's only shop providing a full range of packaged coffee — 144 square feet in size — perfect, according to the couple, for expansion.
Jonathan always had an interest in coffee and started planting in 1986 at Strawberry Hill. As his passion grew, he spent more time cultivating coffee and plants.
Along with Paula, Jonathan started to develop home-grown produce for the hotel and this progressed into the planting of coffee again, and then venturing to get a licence from the Coffee Industry Board (CIB) to deal in Blue Mountain coffee.
The couple, with help from David Sharp, started Strawberry Hill Coffee then expanded into Island Coffees, and the whole coffee culture. "Jamaica," states Jonathan, "needs to be a social coffee culture... between us, we do all business plans, marketing, blog, farming and even cut flowers.
It wasn't all about smelling freshly brewed coffee every morning, though. Getting the coffee into the local market was a challenge. "It was," he explains, "more expensive than the other available brands — a result of us choosing to go with exportable beans from the beginning, as we knew the coffee industry board changes were coming and did not want to adjust prices in our first year of operations." There were too, the stresses associated with planting, growing and ensuring that sustainable practices are used on the farm and in the surrounding communities: all in the name of creating a unique package and unique flavour.
"I owe my late cousin David Dunbrek a great deal for his knowledge of roasts," continues Jonathan. "He was an international buyer on Bond Street, London. We also found that there were only a few brands that retailers were willing to buy, which gave the impression that these were the only coffees in Jamaica. This is still something that we are working on — to expand the public knowledge of what is really available here."
The coffee board has levelled the playing field by not allowing non-exportable coffee, which sold at a very low price, to be sold in Jamaica and as Island Coffees only sells exportable grade, as do the other estate coffees, all the prices are now far more equal.
The other major challenge faced by Jonathan and Paula Surtees is that of sustaining customer consumption on demand. This they do by mail order, through their blog, both locally and internationally.
The response, Thursday Food is delighted to share, has been, according to the couple, "extremely good locally, with people buying earlier on in the year, in spite of the price difference. Supermarkets like Loshusan, Sovereign and John R Wong have been very supportive with exposure and public tastings". Tourists have embraced the brew, too, with responses like: "very genuine", "reasonable prices with a wide selection", "knowledge of coffee and being able to recommend the best roast taking into consideration caffeine content", and "the best smile and service of any staff I have seen today".
Jonathan always had an interest in coffee and started planting in 1986 at Strawberry Hill. As his passion grew, he spent more time cultivating coffee and plants.
Along with Paula, Jonathan started to develop home-grown produce for the hotel and this progressed into the planting of coffee again, and then venturing to get a licence from the Coffee Industry Board (CIB) to deal in Blue Mountain coffee.
The couple, with help from David Sharp, started Strawberry Hill Coffee then expanded into Island Coffees, and the whole coffee culture. "Jamaica," states Jonathan, "needs to be a social coffee culture... between us, we do all business plans, marketing, blog, farming and even cut flowers.
It wasn't all about smelling freshly brewed coffee every morning, though. Getting the coffee into the local market was a challenge. "It was," he explains, "more expensive than the other available brands — a result of us choosing to go with exportable beans from the beginning, as we knew the coffee industry board changes were coming and did not want to adjust prices in our first year of operations." There were too, the stresses associated with planting, growing and ensuring that sustainable practices are used on the farm and in the surrounding communities: all in the name of creating a unique package and unique flavour.
"I owe my late cousin David Dunbrek a great deal for his knowledge of roasts," continues Jonathan. "He was an international buyer on Bond Street, London. We also found that there were only a few brands that retailers were willing to buy, which gave the impression that these were the only coffees in Jamaica. This is still something that we are working on — to expand the public knowledge of what is really available here."
The coffee board has levelled the playing field by not allowing non-exportable coffee, which sold at a very low price, to be sold in Jamaica and as Island Coffees only sells exportable grade, as do the other estate coffees, all the prices are now far more equal.
The other major challenge faced by Jonathan and Paula Surtees is that of sustaining customer consumption on demand. This they do by mail order, through their blog, both locally and internationally.
The response, Thursday Food is delighted to share, has been, according to the couple, "extremely good locally, with people buying earlier on in the year, in spite of the price difference. Supermarkets like Loshusan, Sovereign and John R Wong have been very supportive with exposure and public tastings". Tourists have embraced the brew, too, with responses like: "very genuine", "reasonable prices with a wide selection", "knowledge of coffee and being able to recommend the best roast taking into consideration caffeine content", and "the best smile and service of any staff I have seen today".