July 23, 2005

Coffee News: Coffee Growers Try to Revive a Toast of Cafe Society

"Long before Starbucks and even Sanka, the coffee produced in this cool mountain region was internationally beloved - so much that Puerto Rico, barely the size of Connecticut, was among the world's largest, proudest coffee exporters. The cafes of Vienna, Paris and Madrid served Puerto Rican coffee in the 19th century, as did European monarchs and even the Vatican.

But while short and sturdy coffee trees still flourish on parts of the island, it is hard to find Puerto Rican coffee anywhere now.

Puerto Rico does not even produce enough to meet its own demand, forcing the island to buy beans from other countries. Up to a quarter of the annual harvest goes to waste, mostly because of one problem: nobody likes picking coffee beans, and there are far more appealing options for work these days."

Read more: Coffee Growers Try to Revive a Toast of Cafe Society (NYT Free subscription required)

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