19Honduras
3,527,000 bags (ICO 2009)In-depth country profile: production, varieties, classification, history, current situation and points that remain uncertain. Region: Central America.
Honduras has risen to the rank of a major Central American producer without making much noise. A large part of its land is devoted to coffee, grown mostly in the mountains, and the El Paraiso region remains the oldest and most renowned.
Producers work on small “fincas,” grouped in associations and supervised by a national institute that focuses on yields, biodiversity and cup quality. The vast majority of the country's departments produce coffee.
- Botanical species
- Arabica
- Altitude
- 500 to 1,700 m
- Soil type
- Volcanic and alluvial
- Shade
- Fruit and forest trees
- Harvest
- Manual and selective
- Processing
- Wet process (mainly) and dry process; sun drying
- Sorting
- Manual
- Harvest period
- October to March
- Packaging
- 69 kg bag
Recent volume 5.14 million bags in 2024-2025, the lowest since 2013-2014ICO / IHCAFE, 2024-2025 coffee year
Altitude
| Description | Altitude |
| Central Standard (CS) | 700 to 1,000 m |
| High Grown (HG) | 1,000 to 1,500 m |
| Strictly High Grown (SHG) | > 1,500 m |
The higher the coffee is harvested, the more the acidity (hence the length on the palate and the complexity) is accentuated. SHG is the best grade (~12% of production); HG accounts for ~78%.
Quality: number of defects
| Preparation | Criteria |
| European (EP) | Optical sorting then hand sorting; no major defect tolerated |
| American (USP) | Mechanical sorting |
The region
Rarely mentioned, except “Marcala” (El Salvador border), reputed the best region of the country: described as “SHG Genuine Marcala.”
History
Honduras came late to trade: in 1920, it exported 1,091,977 pounds of coffee, against 94,205,569 for neighboring Guatemala, or less than 2% of its neighbor. Its rise to the rank of a major Central American producer is therefore a phenomenon of the late twentieth century, and it happened without making much noise.
Ukers 1922, ch. XXII, p. 289-291 (exports of the producing countries), p. 290; Country Profiles, Marco De Sousa Rosa, 2026The national institute, IHCAFE, built a range of adapted varieties, each for a different need of the Honduran orchard.
- IHCAFE 90A Catimor released in 1990, intended for low altitudes.
- LempiraVery widely grown in the country.
- ParainemaA selection from the Sarchimor T5296 lineage, dwarf in habit with large beans.
The rust resistance of Lempira was overcome in 2017. A resistance is therefore never definitive: it holds as long as the parasite has not found the counter.World Coffee Research, Coffee Varieties Catalog 2025, IHCAFE 90, Lempira, Parainema profiles; LC ch. 14 and 16
World Coffee Research, Coffee Varieties Catalog 2025, IHCAFE 90, Lempira, Parainema profiles; LC ch. 14 and 16Today
The volume at the head of the profile, 3,527,000 bags, is that of the profile (ICO 2009).
The 2024-2025 coffee year produced 5.14 million bags, the lowest level since 2013-2014. The country has therefore grown so much since 2009 that its worst recent harvest still far exceeds its volume at that time.
The varieties declared are Caturra (30%), Catuai (20%), Typica (20%) and Bourbon (20%), between 500 and 1,700 meters.
Harvesting is manual and selective. Processing is mainly by the wet process, with sun drying.Country Profiles, Marco De Sousa Rosa, 2026; ICO / IHCAFE, 2024-2025 coffee year
Country Profiles, Marco De Sousa Rosa, 2026; ICO / IHCAFE, 2024-2025 coffee yearProducers work on small fincas, grouped in associations, supervised by a national institute that focuses on yields, biodiversity and cup quality. The El Paraiso region remains the oldest and most renowned, and the vast majority of the country's departments produce coffee.
Country Profiles, Marco De Sousa Rosa, 2026Gray areas
- The date of introduction of coffee to Honduras is given by no source consulted.
- The Honduran production loss during the Big Rust is not isolated in the available sources.
- The causes of the 2024-2025 drop (climate, prices, aging orchard) are not established here.
- The current share of IHCAFE varieties in the orchard is not quantified.