Coffee is grown in different countries of the world-more than 70.
In this article, we will talk about Guatemala.
Guatemala is a Central American country with a population of 17.6 million. a person who has about млрд 110 billion. GDP per year (the following countries in the world have approximately the same GDP: Uzbekistan, Angola, Ethiopia). Guatemala generates approximately млрд 0.9 billion a year in coffee exports. DOL. This means that coffee exports account for 0.8% of the country's GDP (this is without taking into account the auxiliary jobs created by the coffee industry within the country, the number of which for coffee farmers can be 3 to 1).
Guatemala's other exports include sugar, oil, fabrics, bananas, fruits, vegetables, cardamom, industrial goods, electricity, precious stones and metals. Guatemala ranks 11th in the world in terms of coffee exports, while it is the world leader in cardamom exports. Therefore, when using this spice, you are most likely consuming a Guatemalan product.
The main official importers of Guatemalan coffee are the United States, Canada and Japan. Despite the strong position of the official coffee market in this country, shadow exports to Mexico and Honduras are also noticeable, which is not reflected in official statistics.
However, after some work with the figures, you can calculate the approximate value of shadow exports in the amount of 4-5 thousand tons annually. However, it will not be possible to reliably find out how much money is actually earned on this.
In general, in this country, coffee areas are occupied by about 270 thousand hectares, but they are not organized in the form of plantations under direct sun, as in Brazil. The fact is that in Guatemala the sun is so hot that coffee just burns under it. Therefore, 98% of all coffee grows using the shaded method. This circumstance creates not only a high-quality taste of the product (increasing the cost of coffee and its level, sometimes to a special degree), but also leads to the fact that mechanical harvesting and processing of the crop is impossible.
Also, the need for manual labor is affected by a strong height difference — by 108 thousand square meters. km of the country's territory is located both at sea level and mountains with peaks of 3-4 thousand meters high (in total, there are 26 mountains in the country, of which 11 are volcanoes).
By the way, about volcanoes — you probably already read our article about the benefits of volcanic soils for the growth of coffee plants (that is, you already know that the best coffee on the planet is grown near volcanoes). In Guatemala, most of the country's coffee regions thank the volcanoes Acatenango, Antigua, Atitlan, Frianes, Oriente and San Marcos for their richness of soil.
At the same time, it is noteworthy that the most famous Guatemalan coffee in the world is a product from Hueuetenango — a region without volcanoes, high-altitude and arid, where due to hot winds coffee is grown at altitudes of more than 2000 meters, which is not a frequent phenomenon in the coffee world, because the vast majority of coffee is grown at altitudes of 500-2000 meters.
Despite the noticeable differences in the taste of the product from each region, in general, Guatemalan coffee is characterized by a bright citrus-fruit taste, a high-density body and good taste balance. The main cultivated coffee varieties here are pakamara, maragojip, catuai, katurra, bourbon and tipica (all Arabica genotypes). Harvesting takes place from November to April. Processing, depending on the height of the region, is performed wet or dry. Interestingly, it is not customary to throw away pachment here — farmers sell it at processing stations or purchasing companies or feed it to animals.
In the country, thanks to state and cooperative efforts, today emphasis is placed on high — quality specialty coffee, which can be sold at prices significantly higher than the average-up to $19 for 1 kg instead of $3-4 of the global average.
However, do not expect a large amount of experimental coffee from this country: most farmers are already elderly and conduct their business quite conservatively. Therefore, they are not inclined to try new things and get some unusual coffee. And it's not even that they don't want to suddenly get something super bright, expensive and valuable, then sell more expensive. The fact is that 8 out of 10 farmers have small plots of land, only up to 5 hectares, so they are afraid to spoil the product that allows them to pay their bills and buy food for their children. But we know one thing for sure: coffee from this country is really worth trying and falling in love with!
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