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Guatemala

High-altitude coffees to drink every day. Produced by young farmers and associations created to support smallholders in Huehuetenango, Nuevo Oriente, Fraijanes, and other regions.

Guatemalan coffees are sweet and elegant. The mouthfeel is often silky and smooth. It’s just too easy to drink. This profile makes Guatemala a unique origin for high-quality coffee that can be used for espresso and filter. On Algrano, you find dedicated farmers who offer great coffee and customer service, and smallholder cooperatives who provide support and training to local communities.

Verified
Sellers
from

Guatemala

Discover the right supplier for your roastery, from innovative farmers and independent exporters to certified cooperatives. Volume lots, micro-lots, blends or single varieties... You'll find what you're looking for.

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APOLO

Single Farm

APOLO is a Guatemalan specialty coffee association born in 2005 to help the coffee producers to...

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ROSMA COFFEELAND

Single Farm, Exporter

2010 Cup of Excellence 2do lugar 2012 Cup of Excellence 13avo lugar 2013 Cup of Excellence 12vo...

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San Miguel Coffees

Single Farm, Trader, Mill, Exporter
Organic, Rainforest Alliance

With 125 years of coffee farming experience, the Falla family is one of the oldest coffee farming...

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FECCEG, Federación Comercializadora de Café Especial de Guatemala.

Cooperative, Mill, Exporter
Bird Friendly, FairTrade, Organic, Rainforest Alliance

At FECCEG we are 1350 members and 350 members from 8 departments in Guatemala. FECCEG accompanies...

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COOPERATIVA INTEGRAL AGRICOLA NUEVA ESPERANZA DEL BOSQUE, R.L.

Cooperative, Washing station, Mill, Exporter

Integral Agricultural Cooperative "Nueva Esperanza del Bosque" Transforming Lives Through...

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ASOCIACION ACODIHUE

Association
C.A.F.E practices, FairTrade, Con Manos de Mujer, Organic, Rainforest Alliance

ACODIHUE is an association with 970 coffee producers where 80% of the membership are women, the...

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Aurora Origin

Other
C.A.F.E practices, B Corp, Rainforest Alliance

We are a team of coffee specialists dedicated to provide unique, rare a premium quality coffee....

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Fructifera, S.A

Single Farm

We are a coffee and pineapple farm, located on the slopes of the Pacaya volcano. This farm was...

Guatemalan coffees are grown at high altitudes, surrounded by volcanoes, mountain peaks, and national parks. The average altitude for coffee farms here is higher than in other Central American countries: about 85% of the coffee grown is of the Strictly Hard Bean (SHB) type, produced between 1,300 and 2,000 meters above sea level. These coffees have a silky mouthfeel and often taste like a mix of chocolate, stone fruits, spices, and florals.

Guatemalan coffees are grown at high altitudes, surrounded by volcanoes, mountain peaks, and national parks.

How
two
price
crises
reshaped
the
landscape

Most of Guatemala’s coffee comes from small farms, with 97% being less than 2 hectares. There are also around 3,600 medium-sized farms (201-2,000 hectares) and 354 large farms (more than 2,000 hectares). Medium and large farms usually produce more, making up 56% of the country’s coffee. Still, a lot of the top-quality SHB coffee comes from small farmers who moved to higher lands.

The coffee scene in Guatemala changed a lot after the International Coffee Agreement (ICA) ended in 1989. The price crashes of the early 1990s and 2000s shook reshaped the sector. Back in the late 1800s, coffee became a big deal for Guatemala’s economy and its main export, mostly grown on large estates. The government took over church-owned and communal lands and sold them to people who wanted to grow coffee, especially German and English immigrants.

coffee beans in guatemala

These early coffee farms were mainly in lower areas, growing grades like Prime and Extra Prime (below 1,000 meters) and Hard Bean and Semi-Hard Bean (1,000-1,300 meters). They used a lot of cheap labour from indigenous, often migrant communities. Between 1870 and the 1920s, the mandamiento rule forced indigenous campesinos to work on public projects and plantations.  

Moving
from
Prime
grade
to
specialty
coffee

This setup of big farms, cheap labour, and high-volume, low-quality coffee stuck around until the 1990s. The first crisis after the ICA ended pushed coffee prices below $0.50 per pound in 1992. While big estates started moving away from coffee, Anacafé (Guatemala’s National Coffee Association) changed strategy. They focused on growing high-quality SHB for premium markets, creating denominations of origin in 1995 and helping small farmers with technical support.

The growing demand for specialty coffee and the move of small farmers to higher altitudes are why so much of Guatemala’s SHB comes from smallholders today. About 35% of these farmers are in cooperatives and associations that help them find better-paying markets through improved quality and certifications. Today, Guatemala is the 9th largest coffee-producing country in the world and the second largest in Central America.

Ten
years
of
learning
what
roasters
like

Ten years of learning what roasters like

Guatemalan producers and cooperatives have been selling coffee on Algrano from the start. These farmers have always believed in the potential of specialty coffee and direct trade. Some cooperatives trusted the platform early on, looking for roasters who could help stabilize their markets and improve the income of indigenous communities. They’ve been learning about roasters’ tastes for nearly a decade now, and can offer a wide range of large lots and micro-lots.

Found
a
coffee
you
love?

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