Grown on the highest plateaus in the eastern part of the island, coffee from this region takes its name from Jamaica's Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains lie between Kingston in the south and Port Maria and Port Antonio in the north. At 2,350 meters above sea level, the Blue Mountains are among the highest mountains in the Caribbean. About 25,000 farmers plant and cultivate 6,000 hectares of coffee. More than 90% of them are smallholders with an average farm size of half a hectare.
The region's climate is cool and foggy with heavy rainfall. The soil is rich with excellent drainage. This combination is considered ideal for growing coffee. "Jamaica Blue Mountain" Coffee is a globally protected certification mark, meaning that only coffee certified by the Coffee Industry Council of Jamaica can be labelled as such. While the Jamaica Coffee Industry Regulation Act specifies which coffee growing areas can use the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee label, it is also important to note that only coffee grown at altitudes of up to 1,800 metres can be considered Blue Mountain. In fact, to avoid intensive deforestation, most of the land in Jamaica above 1,800 meters above sea level is protected forest where no coffee is grown.
