Well-earned reputation for quality opens up new markets

Three hundred years ago, landowners in the Dominican Republic planted their first coffee bushes to satisfy the growing demand in Europe for the beverage. These days, the government and growers are working together to boost the quality of the product, increase production and, once again, satisfy an overseas market that has become increasingly sophisticated in its tastes.
Spearheading the effort is the Dominican Coffee Council, or Codocafe, created in 2000 by the Mejia administration to overhaul the sector and give Dominican coffee a chance to compete in an increasingly difficult foreign market. Codocafe Executive Director Leonidas Batista Diaz says the council is well on its way to achieving those goals.
“One of our main goals is to transform coffee cultivation from conventional production methods to organic production, boost gourmet coffee growing for the niche markets and make it all sustainable. And this is not an easy task after 300 years of traditional farming,” he explains.

The council, which groups coffee producers, cooperatives, growers’ associations, exporters and government officials, sponsors training programs for farmers, workshops and technology exchanges with coffee producers in other countries.
“One of our programs is aimed at revolutionizing post-harvest processing which also protects the environment,” he says. “We have already introduced some 25 new processing machines which use a tenth of the water needed in the conventional process and which also leave no contaminating waste.”
The council’s marketing efforts include promoting Dominican coffee abroad by creating a recognizable brand and studying potential niche markets overseas, such as Japan and the U.S.

“We’ve hired two international marketing experts who will be in charge of our image in overseas markets, one in the United States and one in Europe,” says Mr. Batista. “We’re also setting up a website so customers can communicate directly with individual growers so they can learn about and order specific coffees for delivery.”
American coffee drinkers are the council’s principal target and most Dominican coffee already goes to the United States. U.S. consumers have traditionally been less demanding than Europeans, but the council’s executive director says that is now changing. “In the States there is a coffee consumers’ association which is promoting higher quality coffee,” he says. “Today, the young coffee drinkers don’t want just any coffee, they want one which tastes wonderful and boasts fragrance, body, aroma and just the right acidity.”