Hurricane Melissa and Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee

Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica on October 28, 2025, and the island's coffee farms were among the casualties. This page sets out what Jamaica's official bodies and industry associations have reported about the damage to Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee, what the regulator JACRA and the Ministry of Agriculture have done since, and what it means for the coffee that reaches buyers. Where figures differ between sources, we show both rather than pick one.

What kind of storm was Melissa?

Melissa made landfall near New Hope in Westmoreland, on Jamaica's southwest coast, at 17:25 UTC on October 28, 2025, as a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of about 185 mph (295 km/h) and a central pressure of 897 hPa, according to the published summary of the storm record. That places it among the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever to reach land. The same summary reports that at least 102,300 acres of Jamaican farmland were damaged, affecting more than 70,000 farmers, with total agricultural losses estimated at J$29.5 billion, about US$184 million.

The landfall was in the west, far from the Blue Mountains at the eastern end of the island. A storm of that size is not a local event, though. Wind and heavy rain reached the eastern parishes too, and the coffee area, which sits on steep slopes served by narrow mountain roads, is exactly the kind of place where landslides and blocked roads do lasting harm.

How badly were Blue Mountain coffee farms hit?

The official picture came in stages:

• Preliminary damage estimate. In December 2025 the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) reported preliminary figures showing about 35% damage to the coffee industry.
• Parishes affected. The Jamaica Gleaner reported in January 2026 that the hurricane caused extensive damage to coffee farms in St Andrew, Portland and St Thomas, the three parishes that hold the Blue Mountain growing area.
• Access. Donald Salmon, president of the Jamaica Coffee Growers Association, told the Gleaner in December 2025 that the mountains were significantly impacted. He said roads to Wray Piece in Spring Hill, Mount Holstein and the Mahoe area of Portland were still blocked, so farmers could not reach and harvest what remained, and that where they could pick, they had to carry the coffee a long way because no vehicle could get through.

Melissa also arrived on top of earlier weather losses. Salmon pointed to Hurricane Beryl in 2024, and the Jamaica Coffee Exporters Association had already blamed adverse weather for a 2023/24 crop well short of the regulator's target, as our page on why Blue Mountain coffee is so expensive explains.

Why the timing hurt

Melissa hit early in the picking season. Coffee in the Blue Mountains ripens slowly in the cool, cloudy climate described on our Blue Mountain growing area page, so much of the crop was still on the trees in late October. A hurricane at that point can strip ripening cherries, break the branches that would carry the next season's flowers, and uproot trees outright. Damage to trees matters more than the loss of one crop: a newly planted arabica tree needs several years before it bears fully, so replanting is a multi-year recovery rather than a one-season fix.

What has JACRA done since the storm?

The Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority, which certifies Blue Mountain coffee (see how JACRA certification works), has led the recovery effort together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining. The main steps reported so far:

• December 17, 2025: fertiliser and inputs. JACRA began handing over 5,000 bags of fertiliser and other inputs, a J$35 million investment, starting with 2,000 bags worth about J$10 million given to the Jamaica Coffee Growers Association and the Jamaica Coffee Exporters Association, JIS reported. About 15,000 seedlings were set aside for the Blue Mountain region and about 10,000 for the High Mountain region. JACRA also urged farmers to watch for pests and diseases after the storm.
• January 9, 2026: Blue Mountain Coffee Day. This year's Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Day was held at Guava Ridge, St Andrew, under the theme "Rooted in Recovery: Rebuilding Together". Agriculture Minister Floyd Green said 15,000 seedlings had been distributed to affected farmers and that J$120 million of government money was going into fertilisers, herbicides, fungicides and other inputs. He described the sector as bent but not broken.
• April 2026: J$132 million spent. JACRA's acting director general, Wayne Hunter, told a JIS Think Tank that J$132 million had been spent on rehabilitating the sector through the ministry, with the bulk of the support going to the Blue Mountain region, St Thomas, Portland and St Andrew, and another 4,800 farmers supported in the High Mountain region.

The two totals, J$120 million and J$132 million, come from different dates and speakers, and we have not seen an official reconciliation, so we report both as stated.

The longer replanting plan

Industry leaders have argued that the storm should trigger a wider renewal of ageing farms. In the Gleaner's December report, Dr Norman Grant, president of the Jamaica Coffee Exporters Association, said many farmers had trees close to 30 years old and called for full rollout of the Coffee Crop Resuscitation and Establishment Programme (CREP). He proposed J$300 million a year for five years to fund about a million seedlings, fertiliser, tools, pumps and cash grants, and said production could rise from about 200,000 boxes to 450,000 boxes, with yields rising from about 30 to 90 boxes per acre. Hunter said CREP is designed to put in 1,720 acres of new plants, about 1.5 million trees, over four years.

Those are targets and proposals, not results. Salmon also told the Gleaner that about 80% of small farmers work three acres or less, and that many lack land titles they could offer as collateral for loans, which limits how quickly farms can be replanted with private money.

Does the storm change what "Blue Mountain" means?

No. The legal definition, coffee grown in the mapped Blue Mountain area and certified by JACRA, did not change because of the hurricane, and neither did the grading or export controls described on our Blue Mountain grades page. At the January event Hunter said JACRA's role went beyond recovery to protecting the standards, certification systems and geographic integrity of the coffee. In April he added that JACRA now has two certified Q graders, cuppers licensed by the Coffee Quality Institute, who test coffee, including Blue Mountain, before export.

For buyers, a short crop is a reason to be more careful, not less. When genuine supply is tight, cheap bags using the Blue Mountain name become more tempting to sell. The checks on our fake Blue Mountain coffee page, and the difference between 100% coffee and a Blue Mountain blend, matter more after a bad year.

What do the production figures say?

Hunter told JIS in April 2026 that the 2025 projection had been 127,000 boxes and that 145,000 boxes of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee had been produced by the end of the year, describing production as rebounding. The article does not make clear whether the two figures cover exactly the same period, so treat them as indicative. Jamaica reports coffee in boxes, a local unit, so these numbers cannot be compared directly with international figures quoted in 60 kg bags.

Most Blue Mountain coffee leaves the island; the Gleaner's January report put the exported share at more than 80%. A short crop is therefore felt first in export allocations and then on retail shelves abroad. Japan, the largest buyer for decades (see Blue Mountain coffee and Japan), is typically served through long-standing trade relationships, which can leave less for other markets in a lean year.

Disclosure: this site is published by Mamre Blue Coffee, a Jamaica Blue Mountain estate (see about us), so we rely on official and independent sources for the facts on this page.