Coffee - Haiti Observer Blog

Near the end of November a forum, attended by at least 12 internationally known panelists on the subject of Haitian coffee, was held to jumpstart the Korekafe project. Held in Thiotte, Haiti's first international 'Coffee Cupping Event' saw the participation of those such as: France's Christophe Eberhart and Florent Gout, Canada's Guylaine Pelletier, the USA's Brad Brandhost and Casey Blanche and Diane Nsengiyumva and Edouardo Ramos Samahoya from Haiti, among others.

The project was the brain child of Agronomists and Veterinarians Without Borders (AVSF), various partners locally as well as the French NGO. The panel gathered on the 28 and 29 of November to discuss Haitian coffee, its mysteries and the potential for its flavors in the presence of those players active in the local coffee industry.

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Fair Trade Café is located at 4882 Palm Coast Parkway North West, Florida. They serve coffees that are harvested by hardworking men and women in Haiti. Your purchase at 'Fair Trade Café' will help people in an impoverished country to earn a living. Haitian coffee is a wonderful product that simply needs a proper market where it can be sold. Fair Trade Café works jointly with 'Singing Rooster', which is a certified 501 (c) (3 ) nonprofit enterprise that offers on-ground assistance and partnership to the coffee harvesters and makes direct buyer relationships. They also assist in cultivating high quality gourmet Haitian coffee, buy, sell and export bulk quantities of Haitian coffee beans.

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Four non-government organizations (NGOs) have partnered to aid coffee producers in Haiti, growing coffee beans for the export market. The Clinton and Leslois Shaw Foundations, along with La Columbe Torrefaction and Four Seasons Hotels, have revealed Four Seasons will start offering Haitian coffee on its menus. The variety chosen for inclusion on the menus is a coffee bean indigenous to mountainous areas enfolding Thiotte. La Columbe is the coffee bean wholesaler.

Part of a long-term partnership to outsource Haitian coffee to wider markets, the NGOs intend to create more employment opportunities and raise the standard of living for many Haitians as the enterprise develops new markets.

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Toussaint Coffee Liqueur, named for Haiti's liberator, Toussaint Louverture, is a more intense version of Mexico's Tia Maria and Kahlua. It is less sweet and contains a richer coffee flavor. A blend of Arabica coffee beans and aged Caribbean rum, with an alcohol content of 30%, it became popular in Europe and other import markets.

For undisclosed reasons, the Toussaint Coffee Liqueur brand was discontinued, and had not been available anywhere except perhaps on the island under another name. But Quintessential Brands, which owns the patent, transferred from its original creator, Anker Horn, signed a new licensing agreement with G&J Distillers to produce the liqueur with a new recipe as well as a redesigned bottle.

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Camp-Perrin, a municipality in the Les Cayes Arrondissement is located in Haiti's Sud Department. Around 40,650 people inhabit the place. It lies at 163 kms west of Port-au-Prince.
How Camp-Perrin Got Created

Three Perin brothers who were Frenchmen arrived here during the 18th century. They wanted to study the possibilities of growing coffee and cotton. They also wanted to explore the use of indigo and the dye of Campeche wood in Haiti. The city was thus created in 18th century.

Up the hill they built a camp, and Haut-Camp and Bas-Camp the two district towns came into existence. Perrin is subdivided into three counties namely, the second section - Champlois, the first section - Levy-Mersan and the third section - Tibi-Davezac.

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Born in 1950, Michele Bennett was the daughter of a Haitian businessman who owned 50,000 acres of land, where he mostly grew coffee. She moved to New York when she was 15 and stayed there until she completed her school from St. Mary's School in Peekskill, New York. Her first job was with a slipper company, where she worked as a secretary.

Her first marriage was with the son of a mulatto officer in 1973, a lock from which Michele gave birth to two children. Michele's first marriage ended five years later, in 1978, post which she took up a career in Public Relations. Her first stint was with a classy hotel called Habitation LeClerc.

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Jean Price-Mars, leading mind of the Black intelligentsia, assumed prominent roles in the Haitian government as a young person barely out of his teens. The government delegated him Ambassador of Haiti to France, Germany, the Dominican Republic, and U.S. His scientific aptitude led him to study anthropology and medicine, his gift for analysis made him an academician.

Price-Mars worked as teacher, politician, and writer. During his political career, he served as Secretary of State, ran for the presidency, and represented his country as two-term senator. As thinker and writer, he advocated negritude, a pride in being black and the empowerment that meant.

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Fort-Liberté is located in Haiti's Nord-Est-Department. In Haiti, it is the oldest country and Haiti got its independence here on November 29,1803. The Dominican Republic is located close to its border. Around 11,465 people inhabit the place. The language spoken in the region is Creole. Hurricanes, storms and sunshine are all experienced bringing changes in temperature.

How It Got Its Name
Indians inhabited the region originally after which the Spanish colonists came. In 1578 they found the city of Bayaja and in 1605 abandoned it. In 1732 the French reoccupied it as Fort-Dauphin. In 1764, Spanish forces captured it and in 1801 shortly, after independence was declared in 1803, it was restored to the French.

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Hoboken owners of Bwe Kafe, Evan and Dale Ryan, are capitalizing on America's fervent coffee culture to help Haiti recover from the devastation of 2010's earthquake. They started their foundation, Love for Haiti, and brainstormed for a profit-making venture to support it. When they realized a community coffee house could be successful, they drew up plans immediately. It took them a mere four months from idea to re-tooling the venue to open their business, with help from their mother, who owns the building.

Bwe Kafe, meaning "to drink coffee" in French Créole, orders its fair-trade coffee from La Columbe, who buys the coffee beans from Haiti coffee cooperatives. The coffee house showcases Haitian arts and crafts and encourages patrons to form discussion groups in its performance space.

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Former US President Bill Clinton acts as the United Nation's special envoy to Haiti. His duties have taken him on two trips to the country so far this year. First, in January, he came for the 3-year anniversary of the devastating 2013 earthquake, which took place shortly after his tenure started. His latest visit, a two-day event that consisted of site visits and a donation announcement, on March 10 & 11 saw him accompanied by a nearly two-dozen strong delegation of potential investors from the restaurant, perfume and lingerie industries.

During his visit, he spoke about the controversies and misfortune faced by the country, but stressed that Haiti is still replete with 'staggering potential.' It's a sentiment also expressed by Haitian President Michel Martelly who's 'Haiti is open for business' slogan was designed with luring potential investors from around the world in mind. While they are optimistic about foreign investments being the key to rebuilding Haiti, analysts at home and abroad warn that the country's flawed justice system and its archaic banking practices don't instill confidence in investors. Further concerns are the advisories by the U.S. government that warn potential visitors about concerns of health, security and a lack of proper infrastructure.

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