From left, Oliver Foot, chairman of Blue Mountain Enterprises, Kingsley Thomas, managing director of the Agricultural Credit Bank (Development Bank) and JABLUM (Jamaica) boss Keble Munn formally launch the flagship Jamaica Blue coffee shops in December 1998. - File THE JAMAICA Blue coffee shop, which was launched two years ago in the upmarket Mayfair district of London, to try and cash in on the lucrative international coffee market has closed.
PricewaterhouseCoopers partner and Jablum receiver John Lee went to London last week to supervise the closure of the London shop and organise an orderly winding up of the company.
It was unclear what will happen to the licensed rights to retail Blue Mountain coffee overseas, which had been granted to the joint venture, which was run and majority owned by Oliver Foot's Blue Mountain Enterprises. But it is thought that liquidating the company will see the rights revert to the Coffee Industry Board.
Mr. Foot was unavailable for comment this week.
The lease on the Mayfair shop was due to expire within days of its closure and plans are not afoot to sell the remaining assets and equipment in the store.
The Agricultural Credit Bank (ACB), now the Development Bank of Jamaica(DBJ), refused to put up fresh cash for the venture, which saw Jablum exclusively supply coffee through its main factory at Mavis Bank, St. Andrew.
In February, the Financial Gleaner obtained investment documents which showed the Jamaica Blue operation was trying to raise £1 million from new investors in order to maintain and expand the venture.
DBJ head and former ACB managing director Kingsley Thomas yesterday confirmed the shop had closed.
One week ago it was revealed that the shop was on the verge of closure after the ACB made it clear that it would not put in any more money.
Just before the flagship coffee shop was launched in January 1999, Mr. Thomas said the industry had been encountering a number of problems and extensive market research undertaken by Blue Mountain Enterprises showed that if it was to survive, the market would have to be diversified.
The coffee shop in London, which employed £200,000 in start-up capital sells only Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. It was supposed to be the first of many such outlets but those plans failed to materialise.
The coffee was sold by the cup and in roasted form by the bag, together with teas, juices, bottled water, a range of cakes and savoury food.
