Tales of the Authentic Guadeloupe Bonifieur

Kaché Coffee Launch at 2012 London Tea and Coffee Festival

A lot of people think they know coffee, well not quite like my good friend Vanessa Bolosier. Vanessa is from Guadeloupe, and she runs numerous fine food and beverage operations; with Carib Gourmet being her central fine cuisine company. Carib Gourmet recently launched its first in-house gourmet coffee brand, the Kaché. Guadeloupe is a French island territory located in the Caribbean. France still governs the island, and the island’s history is one that fascinates me. Why coffee you may ask? Coffee is a very special commodity; it has no nutritional value what so ever, but people consume it as if it did. Coffee is also a very complex subject matter, one that encapsulates past and present foreign policy relations, slavery, war, income disparities, environmental and fair trade issues among others. 

The Authentic Guadeloupe Bonifieur Coffee

Kaché coffee is grown and cultivated in Guadeloupe. What makes Kaché so special is its history and tradition. The Guadeloupe Bonifieur is the Caribbean region’s most sacred and rarest coffee bean. The Bonifieur draws its lineage from the Arabica Laurina. This line of Arabica arrived in Guadeloupe in 1723, brought in by a French mariner called Gabriel du Clieu. Guadeloupe’s economy at the time was largely agricultural. What makes the Bonifieur’s story so emotional is the direct link between its cultivation and the slave trade. The New World at the time saw an exponential increase in the number of Africans being sent to the Americas. Although most of Guadeloupe’s present day population is mainly of African descent, the island was first discovered by the Arawak Indians of Venezuela, who called it Karukera, which directly translates to “island of the beautiful waters”. The African slaves were brought in once the island’s mineral and agricultural booms became economic imperatives for France. Present day Guadeloupe enjoys a thriving economy along with a rich and diverse society. Unlike other types of coffee, Guadeloupe’s Bonifieur reflects a sense of overcoming the worst of odds. The underlying story here is that the people who were once forced to cultivate this coffee under deprived conditions have today taken ownership of the very same coffee and have made it their own. Vanessa tells me that her ancestors, the Caribe people, worked on the plantations, and guess what, she’s continuing on their legacy through Kaché. Working on Kaché has taught me that no matter the ugliness, beauty always triumphs. 

Photography credits: Minami Yamashita & Vanessa Bolosier