Above coffee plant, at left coffee berries. - Contributed THE DYOLL Wataru Coffee Company has invested $3.5 million in a wet mill to increase efficiency at its St. Andrew farm.
The wet mill is used to strip the outer layer from the coffee beans for Dyoll Wataru. The company is principally owned by Dyoll Group and the Japan-based Wataru & Company.
Installation of the wet mill at its 342-acre farm in Mount Airy, St. Andrew, is a part of its new expansion thrust, Dyoll says in a release. The move also aims to boost sales of the Dyoll Wataru Estate brand of Blue Mountain coffee in the local market.
Before February of this year, the 18 year-old coffee company had been selling its product mainly in the Japanese market.
Mark Thwaites, executive director of Dyoll Wataru, said that with the acquisition of the wet mill "the company has the capacity to process in excess of 10,000 boxes of cherry berries to wet parchment, which is the first step in the conversion of berries to green beans." He said "this should significantly increase the company's efficiency."
The new pulpery is built to eco-friendly standards, and will serve to reduce processing costs which were previously outsourced.
The release says Dyoll Wataru currently earns more than US$400,000 in foreign exchange for Jamaica annually and the expansion is projected to increase those earnings to more than US$1 million within the next five years.
The expansion project will include the planting of additional acreage of coffee as well as the possible purchase of more land.
LEASE
At present, Dyoll Wataru leases 342 acres of St. Andrew farmlands, with 100 tree-count acres under production. In coffee terms, each acre of land generally accommodates a total of 872 trees. Dyoll Wataru reaps an average 80 boxes of cherry berries per acre of mature coffee trees, of which about 72 per cent has been of exportable grade.
In 2001, the Coffee Industry Board granted an estate licence to the company and that has enabled it to process and sell some of its product on the local market. This is expected to boost earnings for the coffee farm.
"The market in Jamaica for non-export grade coffee has been depressed in recent years, but we are confident that our product is of such a high quality that it will do exceptionally well on the local market," said Mr. Thwaites.
Exportable grade beans are shipped to Wataru & Company in Japan, where the yields are distributed through companies such as Unicafe, one of Japan's most prominent roasters and distributors of the commodity.
According to the release, local consumers have been receptive to the recently launched product, which is directly distributed by the company and made available through supermarkets. Dyoll Wataru is hoping to achieve local levels of success similar to that accomplished on the Japanese market. "It is early days yet, but the response so far has been very promising," Mr. Thwaites said.
Dyoll Wataru Estate Blue Mountain Coffee fetches a premium price on the world market and, according to Mr. Thwaites, is produced at competitive costs comparable to other producers.
PLANNING
In acknowledging that the venture has proven viable for the Dyoll Group, Mr. Thwaites emphasised that the success was a result of careful planning. "We started off on a relatively small scale because we understand that there are risks associated with every investment. But the future looks positive," he said.
The farm was established in 1985 as a joint venture between Dyoll Insurance and Wataru of Japan, each holding 40 per cent of the shares, with the Government of Jamaica holding the remaining 20 per cent. However, in 1989, the Dyoll Group and Wataru & Company purchased the Government's 20 holding.
The farm has endured testing times, surviving Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 and a fire in 1995. Consistently improving yield per acre, Dyoll Wataru has continued to experience improved production and streamlined operations over the years. The company has significantly reduced its start-up capital debt to the Agricultural Credit Bank, and aims to eliminate the obligation by the end of 2003.
