Guatemalan coffee is recognized worldwide for its quality, grown at high altitudes with diverse, distinctive flavors. Guatemala was the first coffee-producing country to establish a denomination of origin system for its eight producing regions. In 2018, coffee production was named “An Intangible Heritage of the Guatemalan Nation.” Coffee has been grown for export since the 1850s and remains the second-most important agricultural export after sugar, injecting hundreds of millions of dollars annually into the economy.1 The sector employs over 125,000 families.2 Guatemala has over 1.6 billion coffee trees, only 30% of which are resistant to coffee leaf rust3; 70% of Guatemala’s coffee lands need renewing. A national rust-resistant variety, Anacafe 14, was released in 2014.4 Replanting is challenged by limited access to quality planting material and the growing costs and risks farmers face from climate change and pests.
1. USDA Coffee Annual: Guatemala, 2025.
2. USDA Coffee Annual: Guatemala, 2025.
3. Wiegel et al. 2020.
4. WCR Coffee Varieties Catalog.
