The British company Cuba Mountain Coffee Co. began by Britain’s ex-treasury and trade minister Oppenheim is the first foreign company to invest in Cuban coffee and the first with private entities in Cuba. Oppenheim signed an agreement with the Cuban government through which his company will invest $4 million over five years to buy Cuban-grown Arabica coffee and invest in small-scale private coffee farming in Southeast Cuba. The funds will be invested in nursery, root stock, and improving processing to improve quality. Yields of coffee in Cuba have been declining and the Cuban government has been encouraging private coffee farming in an effort to reverse the trend and to reduce food imports. In September 2013 Oppenheim started Alma de Cuba, a UK-based website to sell high-end Cuban coffee.
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