Cuba bets on specialty coffee to boost industry

In the lush, fertile mountains of Cuba, farmer Jesus Chaviano dreams of adding his arabica beans to a list of specialty coffees the country hopes will lift an industry in decline.

It's harvest time on Chaviano's eight-hectare plantation in the central Guamuaya mountain range, and his 42,000 coffee plants burst with ripe reddish fruit in the shadow of avocado and banana trees.

At 800 meters altitude, conditions are ideal for the eight varieties of high-quality arabica coffee beans he planted with his "own hands."

While Cuba has been growing coffee for almost 300 years, it has never produced the specialty coffees beloved worldwide for their unique flavour profiles that come from careful cultivation in a specific terroir.

In the past two decades, the appeal of high-end coffee has soared, and so has its price on the international market.

As the island catches on to the appeal of high-end coffee, the first five specialty coffees will be unveiled in December at the first-ever Cuba-Cafe producers fair, which is being held in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba.

The name and origins of the chosen coffees are being kept secret.

The price for 1,000 kilograms of commercial coffee varies between $4,000 and $5,000. Meanwhile, a kilogram of specialty coffee can sell for "up to $10,000."

In 1960, Cuba produced more than 60,000 tonnes of coffee. Last year, this figure stood at only 11,500 tonnes, less than half of what is consumed locally.