History of Guatemalan coffee production

Guatemala coffee has faced crises ever since the Spaniards arrived and began to change the ways of life. Throughout the colonial period and up until 1823 many laws were passes about the land tenure and they either drove indigenous people off their land or converted them into “residents” of the new plantations. After indigo started to fall as the top economic source, coffe took over.

By 1859, over a half million coffee trees had been planted around Antigua, Coban, Fraijanes and San Marcos and close to 400 quintales were exported to Europe. Then in 1860, production tripled to over 1100 quintales. Plantation residents continued to complain of indentured servitude as some farms promote indebtedness through rents, credit policies at the company store, and loans for emergency health care.

Guatemalan coffee production was at it's best during the start of the 21st century when it reached around 5 million quintales. A few years later production fell by 1/3 and coffee prices dropped drastically. Conditions worsened for the farmers as they went through a decline in coffee’s price and production increased