The History of Coffee in Mexico

Despite not arriving on these shores until the late 18th century, coffee has not only become a popular drink in Mexico, but has helped shape the country’s economy and culture. While not as famous internationally for its coffee production as South American nations such as Colombia, Mexico has a proud heritage of producing high quality beans. It is one of the world’s top producers and is the United States’ largest source of coffee imports. The history of coffee production in the country, however, is complicated and deeply political.

While it is difficult to find an exact date for the first importation of coffee, with some studies suggesting it could have been as early as 1740, most historians suggest that it first arrived in the state of Veracruz in the latter half of that century by way of Cuba. The person most commonly credited with the introduction is Spaniard Juan Antonio Garcia. After its arrival coffee was not initially widely adopted, as chocolate and other options such as atole, a corn-based beverage, were already popular stimulant drinks. Over time, however, coffee plantations began to spring up in the south of the country, a movement driven largely by German and Italian migrants. These early plantations often took advantage of Indigenous workers, with minimal pay and poor conditions. 

Coffee didn’t gain much traction as an export product until the 1870s, when coffee producers in Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas started to sell the beans at volume. In the early part of the twentieth century smaller local producers became a significant part of the market, as subsistence farmers, many from Indigenous communities, found that coffee production was profitable and suited to the warm climate and mountainous terrain in parts of the south. These small producers were often more successful than their industrial scale competition, with larger companies struggling to make cultivation sufficiently lucrative.

During the 1900s coffee played a pivotal role in the country’s economic development, providing access to foreign currency and allowing otherwise poor communities to become financially sustainable. The relatively low cost of production and high quality made the Mexican beans appealing to foreign roasteries. INMECAFE, a government institute, was set up to provide support to cultivators and regulate the marketplace to keep prices high and stable. By the early 1980s over one million acres of land across 12 states was being used for coffee bean cultivation, directly supporting around 3 percent of the population. Prices were also kept stable by the existence of international agreements between the major coffee producers, ensuring the market was profitable for all. Mexico’s use of coffee to revolutionize its agricultural sector was seen as a model to be used by countries in the global south to improve their economic outlook.

1989 saw the collapse of the INMECAFE organization and the end of international price cooperation, with the market flooded by low cost and often poor-quality beans. This had a devastating effect on Mexican coffee growers, as the new low price of coffee made it difficult to turn a profit, with some growers operating at a loss. One major issue was the prevalence of Arabica beans in Mexico which, while considered to be superior in terms of flavor, are more expensive and harder to cultivate than Robusta beans. Arabica trees are also less disease resistant, being prone to the coffee rust outbreaks that have plagued Mexican producers since the early 1980s.

As a result of the instability of the international coffee market, the industry in Mexico declined steadily, with more and more farmers either switching to other products or sacrificing quality through reducing costs. This in turn led to lower yields and lower demand for the poorer quality product, further depressing prices. This trend continued through the nineties and the early 2000s, with coffee production and export not showing a year-on-year increase until 2006. Since then, the growth of coffee co-operatives and a shift towards providing organic coffee has seen the industry recover. This trend was interrupted by a bad outbreak of coffee rust in 2012, but growers have worked hard to recover, with the country now being the 8th largest producer and 9th largest exporter in the world.

Today there are over half a million producers in the country, with more than 95 percent being small growers with less than seven acres of land. Cultivation is spread across 16 states, although over 90 percent is in the three major states of Chiapas, Oaxaca and Veracruz. Coffee is still a major source of income for many Indigenous communities, with over 50 percent of plantation owners speaking an Indigenous language. Cooperatives are a significant force in the industry, with a varying degree of support depending on the political position of the government of the day. Coffee production has even been harnessed by political movements, such as the Zapatista Indigenous separatists movement in Chiapas, to help fund their cause and improve conditions for the workers.

Coffee is often enjoyed with sweet bread in Mexico

Despite being one of the most important coffee exporters, Mexico is also a heavy consumer of coffee, and many of the best quality beans are kept in the country for this domestic market. Café culture is strong in many cities, with a wide range of coffee drinks popular across the country. Cafés are often open late, with coffee seen as both an evening and a daytime drink. Menus often mix European style drinks such as Cappuccinos, with popular Mexican classics like Lechero, a milky coffee similar to a Latte, or Café de Olla, coffee brewed with cinnamon that can be enjoyed bitter or sweetened with raw cane sugar known as piloncillo. 

If you want to try Mexico’s excellent coffee, it is widely available in stores in the US and Europe. You can also try our Café de Olla recipe at home with just a few ingredients. Purchasing Mexican coffee often supports independent growers and communities across the country.  

If you want to learn more about Mexican culture, history, language and cuisine, you can visit our blog here or sign up for our newsletter below. If you want to experience Mexican culture for yourself, there is no better way than a Spanish or Maya immersion experience here at Na’atik. To find out more about our immersion experiences and how they help us support the local community click here, or contact us at say@naatikmexico.org.