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Mexico Coffee Origin Guide: Regions, History & Flavor Profile

Mexico is a top-tier producer, ranking 10th in global production volume in 2025 with nearly 4 million 60kg bags. Coffee is primarily cultivated in the country’s southernmost states, the majority of which is arabica. Robusta production is increasing, with current volumes at about 500,000 60kg bags annually. Mexico contributes substantial quantities of certified organic and Fair Trade coffees, and is also a major consumer. Mexicans drink the green bean equivalent of more than 3 million 60kg bags annually, with a substantial soluble market and growing specialty café sector, largely concentrated in major metropolitan areas such as Mexico City.

History

History

Coffee cultivation first spread through Mexico around the late 18th century, where it likely came from Cuba. Land registration began due to land conflicts on the border of Guatemala and Mexico, in Veracruz. Rich Europeans purchased land during this period and began investing in the area to support coffee production. This led to the displacement of indigenous people in the area. For a long period, Mexico had a plethora of mineral deposits, which delayed the focus and investment towards the coffee industry.  

Most of the coffee production was controlled by large estates, but eventually there was a move towards smallholder production. In 1914 there was a redistribution of land to indigenous people of the area.  Simultaneously, from 1910 until 1920, the Mexican Revolution took place, which eventually resulted in reforms encouraging the emergence of smallholder farming. By the 1970’s, the government implemented programs to help support coffee growers with education and financing. This led to an increase in coffee production all over the country. 

The 1980s and 1990s saw a mix of fortunes for coffee producers in Mexico. While large increases in productive areas were observed, in 1989 the Mexican Coffee Institute dissolved and the International Coffee Agreement disintegrated, leaving farmers with little institutional support and cratering coffee prices. 

Coffee producers left their fields, changed their crops, and/or abandoned the use of fertilizers and pesticides as a result. Coffee production plummeted. Many producers who continued growing coffee began to find local support with cooperatives, and adopted Fair Trade and organic practices, a legacy that remains in place today. Production volumes in Mexico have rebounded in the 21st century.  

Today, post-harvest production is largely dominated by Nestle in Mexico, including soluble (instant) coffee production. Nestle’s purchasing practices encourage farmers to plant robusta and is frequently accused of predatory pricing. 

Mexico also contains a few of the world’s few major decaffeination facilities, including Descamex (whose Mountain Water brand produces chemical-free decaffeinated coffee) and Cafiver, which produces Ethyl Acetate (aka Sugarcane process) decaffeinated coffees.  

mexico coffee growing region

Regions

Mexico’s primary coffee producing regions include Puebla, Chiapas, Oaxaca and Veracruz. Chiapas is the top producing state by volume, and is known for its beneficial volcanic soils along with high altitude provided by the Sierra Madre mountain range. Oaxaca has many smallholder producers, with farms of roughly 2 hectares of land. Veracruz is a large state but with lower production output than other states. Parts of this region have very high altitudes with ideal climate to produce coffee with better cup quality.  

Cultivars 

Common cultivars include Typica, Caturra and Bourbon, and in 2015 a program funded by the government meant to support coffee plantations supported distribution of improved varieties. Some of the improved cultivars produced include Mundo Novo, Catimor, Catuai and Maragogype. 

Mexico is one of the few remaining Typica-heavy coffee producing nations. A locally adapted selection of Typica popular with Mexican coffee producers is known as Pluma Hidalgo. 

Garnica is a little-known cultivar developed by the Mexican Coffee institute in 1961. Researchers cross bred Mundo Novo with Caturra Amarillo. Trials were set in 1979 but because IMNECAFE dissolved in 1989, the pedigree selection did not make it to market. Private producers in Mexico got a hold of selections from these trials, but the cultivars are difficult to trace.