The provincial telecentre CNC TV Granma announced this week on Facebook the launch of a new brand of Cuban coffee called Oloroma, handcrafted from the Robusta variety by the Agroforestry Research Station of Guisa, in the municipality of the same name.
The note states that the product is already being sold in the eastern region in packages of 125 and 250 grams, at prices of 300 and 600 Cuban pesos, respectively.
According to the entity's executives, the brand is the result of the research project "Más Café II," financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, which promotes sustainable forestry systems in mountainous conditions in eastern Cuba.
Robusta coffee, as the telecenter recalls, comes from a hardier shrub than Arabica and can be grown in a wider variety of soils. Its caffeine content ranges from 2 to 3 percent, its beans are smaller, and its flavor is firmer and more bitter, with a rough texture. It is commonly used in blends.
The official announcement, however, was met with marked skepticism on social media. The comments beneath the post reflect the distrust accumulated over years of scarcity and adulteration of regulated coffee.
"We'll see what percentage of coffee that toasted pea has," wrote a user. Another noted: "That must be pea with a little bit of coffee, like all of them."
A resident of Granma questioned the distribution: "And where is it? I'm from the province and I haven't seen it." From Niquero, another user was more direct: "You (people from Granma) have hope, because we definitely won't see it in Niquero."
An internet user recalled, somewhat ironically, the historical connection between Cuba and the cultivation of Robusta: "It's the coffee that can be grown at practically any altitude, the one that Vietnam learned to cultivate from us." Indeed, Cuban technicians advised on the start of coffee cultivation in Vietnam in the 1980s; that country later became the world's largest producer of Robusta.
Popular distrust is rooted in a coffee crisis that the regime has been unable to reverse. In the first half of 2025, Cuba produced only 2,887 tons of coffee, which is equivalent to 23.7% of the plan, against a national demand estimated at 24,000 tons per year. The contrast with the historical high of over 60,000 tons reached in 1961 illustrates the collapse of six decades.
The situation reached a tipping point in August of this year, when Torrefactora Manuel Ascunce in Villa Clara had to process corn, sorghum, and rice due to a lack of coffee. Its director, José Raúl Arias Díaz, explained it bluntly: "We roast, grind, and package; that is the basic systemic process, and we can do it with corn, with sorghum, and almost any seed." This is one of the most strategic provinces in the country’s coffee production
Santiago de Cuba, one of the most strategic provinces in coffee production, only completed 65% of its plan by the end of February 2025, while in the informal market, the product sold for as much as 200 pesos per pound.
The coffee that reaches the warehouses has historically been distributed as a 50% coffee and 50% pea blend, in 115-gram packages, which explains the skepticism of Cubans toward any new official announcement.
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