Cafe Kreyol’s pioneering partnership with specialty coffee producers in the Dominican Republic was featured in the lead story of the July/August 2024 issue of Roast Magazine.
The Dominican Republic is one of the most exciting emerging origins in the world — and Cafe Kreyol has been partnering with this Caribbean nation’s producers, farmers, and scientists for more than a decade.
Cafe Kreyol president and founder Joey Stazzone has been traveling to Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic since 2013 to work side-by-side with the Ramirez Estate, a 80-year-old fourth-generation family business, to produce astonishing new specialty coffees from exciting honey and natural processes.
In February 2024, Joey returned as a CQI Educator to lead the first-ever officially-sanctioned CQI class in the country’s history.
Roast Magazine spoke with class attendees from the Instituto Dominicano del Café, a department of the Dominican Ministry of Agriculture in charge of promoting, improving and sustaining Dominican coffee domestically and abroad.
“This moment marks a significant turning point in the Dominican Republic,” researcher Gladys Romero said.
The Roast Magazine story, also highlighted the historic successes Cafe Kreyol has had in proudly proving that Dominican microlots can stand toe-to-toe with the best specialty coffees in the world:
“And this partnership is paying off; in 2020, a red honey process from […] Cafe Kreyol scored a 92 from Coffee Review, tying the highest score the site has ever awarded to a Dominican coffee, and earning it the No. 22 rank on Coffee Review’s Top 30 Coffees for 2020.”
Joey spoke at length about why this type of long-term cooperation between producers in emerging origins like the Dominican Republic and committed roaster partners in established markets benefits both, leads to mutual economic success, and creates better specialty coffee:
“‘It’s encouraging to see people we’ve believed in for so long start to get international recognition. […] We’re able to share the decades of scientific knowledge we’ve learned at origins all over the world. And because we don’t have to rely on importers, more profit goes directly into the pockets of producers, where it belongs. As roasters, we know we’re going to get the coffees we’ve worked on together for years, and the stability and potential for growth that gives our business.’”
We’re proud to continue to champion the Dominican Republic, the skilled producers who live and work there, and the future of Dominican specialty coffee.
Want to taste the very best coffee the Dominican Republic has to offer, including the 92-point red honey process mentioned in the story?
As Leaders in Dominican Coffee, we have a number of green coffee options available wholesale for roasters. Click the links below for split sacks of green coffee, or contact us for wholesale information on higher volumes.
