STiR coffee and tea magazine

46 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 2, 2020 (April / May) A Mexico Returns fter a century of building one of the strongest and most productive coffee sectors in the world, Mexico, the sprawling northernmost country in Latin America, saw it fall off a cliff in the first decades of the millennium. Today, Mexico is the world's eighth largest coffee producer, up from 11 just two years ago, and it is developing its specialty and certified sectors. Only five years ago, things looked pretty dire for Mexico as a coffee origin, and there were doubts about whether it would recover. Several factors, including radical changes in government policy in the late 20th century, left the coffee sector so vul- nerable to climate change and the rust epidemics of 2000 and 2013 that it was nearly destroyed. Climate change, particularly extreme and sudden increases in rainfall did the rest. But Mexico's coffee is on the rebound lately, largely due to growers' associations, NGOs, and world industry leaders working to improve productivity, quality, and mar- ket access — and, importantly, growers successfully pressuring the government to intervene more forcefully. Mexican coffee is typically characterized as mild and light- bodied, with nut-like flavor, and low acidity. Around 35% of Mexico's coffee produc- tion area is prime for growing top-quality high-altitude coffee, located at 900 meters or more above sea level. About 7-8% of growers now cultivate certified organic coffee, mainly for export. Where and how coffee came to Mexico and thrived as a major export crop in is still being debated. The first coffee plants are said to have come from Cuba via the port of Veracruz. In the 19th century, Italian Geronimo Manchinelli planted coffee in the south of Chiapas in the mountainous border with Guatemala. Coffee is still the main economic activity of that region, where roughly 36% of all of Mexico's coffee is grown. Later, immigrants from Germany but also France, Spain, Italy, and the United States, built large coffee plantations in Chiapas and Veracruz, Oaxaca, and Puebla, also in the south. By Bethany Haye Bags or organic coffee in Chiapas Credit Almonroth

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