February 17, 2025
Many countries in Central America produce coffee but Guatemala is especially suited to coffee production with coffee being cultivated in 20 out of 22 departments in the country. The proliferation of coffee farming throughout the country can be attributed to the volcanic soils originating from the country’s 37 volcanoes and equatorial climate. Coffee production in Guatemala occurs from 1,600 to 4,900 feet above sea level and spans over 270,000 hectares. Of the 270,000 hectares dedicated to coffee farming, 98% of the coffee is shade grown coffee, meaning the coffee plants are grown amongst other trees and crops in an agroforestry system.
When coffee plants first arrived in Guatemala in the mid-1700s, the plants were brought purely for decoration by Jesuit missionaries. At that time, Guatemala’s main industry was the production of natural indigo and cochineal dyes until the invention of synthetic dyes in the mid-1800s decimated the industry. Looking for a new way to make money, many Guatemalans turned to coffee farming and by 1880, 90% of the country’s exports were coffee. This ramp up to 90% of exports is staggering when you consider the fact that coffee production first began only 30 years prior, in the 1850’s. The dominance of coffee production in Guatemala was obvious in the global coffee market as the country was the top producer of coffee in central America for most of the 20th century and beginning of 21st century until Honduras eventually surpassed them.
Another thing that sets Guatemalan coffee production apart is the Asociación Nacional del Café (Anacafé), an organization that was founded in 1960 to represent and promote all Guatemalan coffee farmers. Anacafé established the Guatemalan coffee brand and categorized the eight main coffee producing regions in the country: Acatenango Valley, Antigua Coffee, Traditional Atitlan, Rainforest Coban, Fraijanes Plateau, Highland Huehue, New Oriente, and Volcanic San Marcos. As the first country that characterized their producing regions, Guatemala, through Anacafé’s efforts, was able to distinguish the diverse coffees from Guatemalan producing regions from each other as well as from coffee produced in countries around the world.
Today, coffee is still one of Guatemala’s most prominent agricultural exports, comprising 40% of the country’s export revenue and employing more than 125,000 families, 97% of whom are smallholder farmers. Even as a relatively small country geographically, Guatemala is still the 9th largest coffee exporter in the world.
Like many other coffee producing countries, Guatemala has historically exported much of the coffee it produces, however, coffee consumption is growing in Guatemala although 58% of domestic consumption is soluble coffee, a cheaper alternative to whole or ground coffee.
The coffee coming from Guatemala is almost exclusively Arabica and is typically washed, although other processing methods are gaining in popularity. At Westrock Coffee, we love Guatemalan coffees for their rich and chocolatey taste.
