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Honduras

Honduras produces more coffee than any country in Central America. Like Peru, it’s regarded as a great origin for volume and certified coffees. Record-breaking scores in recent Cup of Excellence competitions are also boosting the country’s reputation for quality.

The first shipment of Honduran coffee through Algrano was with COMSA (Café Orgánico Marcala) in 2017. Since then, more farms and cooperatives from La Paz, Ocotepeque, Lempira and Copán started offering coffee on the platform. Together, they offer a good selection of certified blends, specialty coffees and single-farm lots.

Verified Sellers from

Honduras

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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Cafesmo Ocotepeque Honduras

Cooperativa
FairTrade, Organic, Rainforest Alliance

We, the 250+ members who together form Cafesmo, have formalized our cooperation in 2016. Our individual fincas are relatively small, most of them ranging from 2 to 12 hectares. All our fincas are FTO certified and we offer an array of specialty profiles. Our region - Ocotepeque - is known for its rich soil and perfect altitude range to grow unique, richly flavored coffees. We are convinced that Mercedes and Ocotepeque will continue to gain in fame over the next few years, and deservedly so. Most of our finca’s are located between 1,200 and 1,600 meters. Thanks to a varied topography, we have a long harvest season, that starts late October and lasts until March. Varieties include Pacas, Lempira, Parainema, Catuaí, Obatá, Colombia, IHCAFE90… We have young people as well as less young members, women and men, someone who is a microbiologist, and one who has been an elementary school teacher. Together, we stand for ‘diversity and quality’, together we stand strong

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COMSA

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

Finca Los Pinos is the second project in our tradition as coffee producers since 1987. We are constantly innovating in our coffee handling and drying processes and this allows us to develop the quality of our coffee. Around the farm, the forest is conserved in different areas, and we also try to use practices that help conserve the soil. When we drink our coffee we notice the positive and constant development in the cup, we hope you can enjoy it too.

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Cooperativa Cafetalera Capucas Ltda.

Cooperativa, Moinho, Exportador
FairTrade, Organic, Rainforest Alliance

Cooperativa Cafetalera Capucas Limitada (COCAFCAL) was founded in 1999 by Omar Rodríguez Interiano and a group of coffee producers in the village of Las Capucas. Back then, Omar wanted to share his knowledge on cultivation and successful commercialisation with local growers, many of whom were part of his family. Today we are a family of more than 900 coffee farmers who share a common vision: to grow coffee with social and environmental responsibility, adding value to our clients and contributing to the well-being of our people. We are organic certified and champion our members by separating lots that can be sold as single farm micro-lots. Capucas also has a handful of social projects: we support a group of female producers who sell roasted coffee in the internal market, we built a football field (our first championship started just now, in February 2020!) and we partnered with a university to offer online courses. Our cupping lab is open to all and we encourage growers to learn!

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GAIA

Single Farm
FairTrade, Organic, Rainforest Alliance

In my career I have developed a background in social ethical financing of sustainable agriculture producer organisations, specifically with Fair Trad and Organic coffee organisations in Latin America. In 2012 I decided to begin my own coffee farm at a 1.650 m altitude with high quality coffee varieties: Catuai, Bourbon & Parainema. I decided to put into practice what I learned in specialty coffee, experimenting on the selection of varieties but also on the techniques in fertilizing, pruning, shadow management and harvesting. With the coffee collected I conduct different processes: washed, honey, natural and anaerobic fermentation. I also put a lot of effort in the social impact of my farm by sharing the income of my farm with my workers, providing them training on coffee farm management, taking them to learn from other experiences and helping their children with grants to follow up the studies. I hope you like the result of all the team work and positive energy behind GAIA farm.

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Proexo

Association, Exporter
FairTrade, Con Manos de Mujer, Organic, US Organic, Rainforest Alliance

We are a company of coffee producers belonging to the social sector of the Honduran economy, dedicated to the provision of goods and services in the production, transformation, commercialization of coffee and transfer of business knowledge for taking advantage of opportunities with economic, social, and environmental sustainability; to contribute to the quality of the associated families’ lives.

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Cooperativa de Servicios Agropecuarios Gualcinse Limitada COSAGUAL

Cooperative
FairTrade, Organic Bio Suisse, Organic Bio Suisse, Organic

COSAGUAL is an Agricultural Services cooperative, dedicated to the production and marketing of coffee with socially and environmentally responsible seals, grown in the southwest of Honduras, under agroforestry systems to reduce soil erosion and the impact of climate change. Our coffee offer is SHG and HG washes with 83.5 points in rate and 2% of the production are microlots with natural process. The organization has administrative and technical personnel trained to ensure the coffee. In addition, COSAGUAL is a company that generates employment for the rural area where it has influence, thus allowing the economic development of other families in the community. We are also a company that promotes the diversification of family income, through the establishment of productive projects such as Bee Honey and Banana cultivation, which generates other income for producers in addition to coffee. www.cosagual.com

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Benefício Santa Rosa

Representante Comercial, Comerciante, Moinho, Exportador
C.A.F.E practices, FairTrade, Organic Bio Suisse, Organic, Organic, Rainforest Alliance

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Cooperativa Cafetalera Fraternidad Ecológica Limitada. "cafel"

Cooperativa, Moinho, Exportador
C.A.F.E practices, UTZ Certified, FairTrade, Organic, Rainforest Alliance

Our Cooperative was founded in 2003 with 22 small coffee producers. Tired of so much injustice on the part of the local marketers, who bought our crops without recognizing the qualities and qualities of our coffee. We have developed in the country the first project of ecological mechanical drying, which consists of the installation of 2 stainless steel dryers with European technology which work with Methane/Propane gas as an energy source of heat, this gas is produced with the implementation of a bio-digester process, using coffee mucilage as raw material, going from a pollutant to a source of energy production. In January 2017, CAFEL inaugurated its coffee preparation plant for export with a processing capacity of 80,000 qq of gold coffee, thus guaranteeing total traceability. As a derivation we can offer various qualities such as; Specialty Coffees, Certified Coffees, Conventional and Stocklot.

Honduras has a wide variety of coffees for every roastery. Whether you're looking for affordable commercial grades, lower-end specialty lots, or coffees with socio-environmental certifications (lots of organic options!), you can find it all here. And let's not forget the 85+ points micro-lots perfect for espresso, filter, and limited editions. But you must know that Honduras wasn't always known for high-quality coffee. The country used to be infamous for high-volume, low-quality, cheap coffee with poor drying practices leading to inconsistent cups full of defects. So, what changed?

History of coffee production in Honduras      

While Honduras exports more coffee than any other country in Central America today, they only started back in 1889. By then, many of its neighbors already had more developed coffee sectors. Throughout the 20th century, most coffee farms in Honduras were bigger than 35 hectares, producing lower grades: Standard (STD) for farms below 900 m, and High Grown (HG) for those between 900 m and 1,300 m. Back then, smuggling coffee to Guatemala for better prices was a big issue.

Despite the inconsistent quality, coffee became more important in the 1950s when the government partnered with USAID to invest in processing infrastructure. This was followed by the creation of the Association of Honduran Coffee Producers (AHPROCAFE) in 1967 and the development of the Honduran Coffee Institute (IHCAFE) in 1970. The high prices of the 1970s led to a boom in coffee production and further investment in infrastructure.

Honduran Coffee Producer next to imdustrial coffee grinder

Agrarian reform and the cooperative movement

The 1970s also saw changes in the farming sector. The Honduran government approved a second agrarian reform in 1975, aiming to integrate thousands of rural families into the economy and promote a cooperative system of production. Like other countries in Central America, the price crises of the 1990s and 2000s pushed larger farms to diversify, leaving coffee production in the hands of smallholders in higher altitudes.

When the second price crisis hit, coffee producers didn’t just sit back. They took to the streets to demand government support. This led to a national policy for the industry, moving coffee-related institutions and services from public to private or semi-private control. The government also passed a law to tax coffee production, creating a financial support fund, research, and extension services for farmers.

Around this time, Honduras created institutions to promote quality, like the National Center of Quality, the Coffee Quality Control Laboratory, and the School of Coffee Tasters. The first Cup of Excellence took place in 2004. The cooperative movement also grew, with hundreds of associations providing technical assistance, access to inputs, and financing. Many cooperatives stopped buying wet parchment and started buying cherries to better control processing.

Smallholders in high altitudes

Today, you'll find a very different coffee sector in Honduras. There are 120,000 families working in coffee, and 92% of the farms are small, below 3.5 hectares. Now, 60% of the coffee exported is Strictly High Grown (SHG), from farms above 1,200 m in altitude. More than half of all exports are specialty or certified coffee. The cooperative movement has grown, and they now handle exports themselves. COMSA, the first cooperative to try Algrano, is the 9th biggest exporter in the country.

Some might argue that the cooperative movement hasn’t fully delivered on its promise, as only 15% of farmers are associated with one. However, Honduras owes its place in the coffee world today to strong national policies, institutions, and the work done by cooperatives to differentiate production. Honduras is the origin that recovered best from the leaf rust outbreak of 2012-13, with production remaining high despite setbacks with diseases. Most farmers grow coffee under agroforestry systems, fertilize, and perform disease control at least three times a year.

Domestic market and direct sales

Direct access to the international market is still not the norm in Honduras. There are nearly 600 intermediaries registered in the country, and nearly 80% of the coffee is sold to them before it reaches exporters. Multinational companies like Olam, ECOM, and Volcafe are among the largest exporters and control a big chunk of the domestic market. That’s why Algrano only onboards single farms and cooperatives, who are the main providers of technical assistance and support to farmers.

The country’s transformation from a supplier of low-quality coffee to a producer of high-quality specialty coffees is truly impressive. With a strong cooperative network, government support, and a focus on innovation, Honduras is well-positioned to meet the demands of specialty coffee markets. Roasters can expect high-quality beans, a consistent supply, and a direct connection to dedicated producers.

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