THE BLUE Mountain Coffee Co-operative has received three new machines valued at some $12 million, for use at the Co-operative's operations in Yallahs, St. Thomas.
Funding for the equipment, which includes grading and hulling machines, as well as a 5-ton rotary dryer and furnace, was provided by the European Union under the Eastern Jamaica Agricultural Support Programme (EJASP).
Manager of the Blue Mountain Coffee Cooperative, O'Neil Blake said the machines obtained from England would be installed at the Yallahs site as soon as the building is repaired. In the meantime, he said the drying, storage, sorting and packaging operations would continue at the Moy Hall Coffee Factory in Cedar Valley, St. Thomas.
Last July, the Moy Hall factory was extensively damaged by Hurricane Dennis when the main offices, drying areas and the pulping house were flooded. As a result, the Cooperative's main office was relocated to Morant Bay. However, the wet part of the operations (collecting and pulping) remained at Moy Hall.
Mr. Blake said the new drying machine will help to boost
the drying capacity of the Cooperative's factory.
