Dominican coffee from 7,000+ growers touted in Japan

Tokyo.- Dominican Exporters Association (ADOEXPO)president Álvaro Sousa Sevilla on Monday highlighted the business opportunitiesfrom the more than 7,000 Dominican coffee producers in the Japan’s growing consumermarket, considered the world’s fourth largest in that agro sector.

Sousa forms part of a Dominican delegation ina visit to Japan, which included participation in the recent meetings of the WorldSpecialty Coffee, with Dominican ambassador Héctor Domínguez, attending severalgatherings with potential business contacts.

council ministers Julio Seliman and JoselynSaladin took part in the meeting with diplomats Escipion Oliveira and Emily Kelly of CaribbeanExport; María Isabel Balbuena, of the South Region Coffee Growers Federation (FEDECARES)and Belarmino Rodríguez, of Caribbean Labs and Traders.

A Haitian representative also formedpart of the delegation sponsored by Caribbean Export, which called it proofthat both countries can visit markets together and share the promotion ofproducts harvested on Hispaniola.

FEDECARES, which groups more than 7,000growers, is making contacts with potential clients from various Asian nationsand other continents.

Its agenda included presentations ofnational companies and their coffee varieties, as well as a private seminar tomore than 50 people, about the benefits of the crop.

Japan coffee fair

Sousa said the World Specialty Coffee fair isthe largest coffee specialties event in Asia, with more than 26,500 visitorsand more than 105 exhibitors from Jamaica, Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica andGuatemala, and nationals as far away as Vietnam, Rwanda and Ethiopia, amongothers.