COFFEE: GUATEMALA’S STAR EXPORT

Evelio Alvarado is the General Manager of ANACAFE, Guatemala’s National Coffee Association, a public service private institution founded under the auspices of the Coffee Law of 1960. Its main objective is to strengthen the national economy through the production and export of coffee and to represent Guatemala’s coffee-growing sector –which encompasses 120,000 coffee growers all over the country– issue export licenses, develop and execute coffee-related policies, promote Guatemala’s coffee and protect the country’s coffee plantations which today number around 754,000 acres. Coffee crops make up 2.8% of Guatemala’s surface and they are found in 21 of its 22 Departments. Coffee represents an annual income of $666 million to Guatemala’s economy, with an export volume of 3,816 million Quintals of gold coffee.

Question: What would you highlight about Guatemala’s coffee?

Answer: Several international experts declared that Guatemala’s coffee is one of the world’s top three. Proof of this are the record amounts achieved at international coffee auctions, such as ACE (Alliance for Coffee Excellence), which is held annually and where the produce of “El Injerto” –one of Guatemala’s coffee plantations– obtained the highest-ever price for a specialty coffee at $80.20 per pound.

Q: Is coffee part of Guatemala’s Nation Brand?

A: Of course it is. I would say that coffee is Guatemala’s best Ambassador to the world since it started being grown in the country in the 1850s. The country was the largest producer in the region until 2011, and today it is the world’s tenth coffee producer.