Coffee production in Cuba

Boosted by French farmers fleeing the revolution in Haiti, coffee farms expanded from the western plains to the nearby mountain ranges.

By 1791, French colonists, fleeing the abolition of slavery during the Haitian Revolution, introduced better coffee production methods to Cuba.

[2] Coffee production in eastern Cuba during the 19th and early 20th centuries "resulted in the creation of a unique cultural landscape, illustrating a significant stage in the development of this form of agriculture."

As such, UNESCO has listed the "Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee Plantations in the South-East of Cuba" as a World Heritage Site since 2000.

[3] After the outbreak of the World War I in 1914 (and especially after German Empire declared an unrestricted submarine warfare in 1915), the export of Cuban goods (including coffee) to Europe proved difficult.

[6] By the 21st century, 92 percent of the country's coffee was grown in areas of the Sierra Maestra mountains, especially under forest canopies.

[12] Currently, Japan and France are Cuba's major coffee export markets, with smaller amounts going to Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand.