How much coffee does Nicaragua export? What are the preferred varieties, and what does a typical cup of Nicaragua taste like? What role does coffee play in society and the economy, and what does its future hold? These are fascinating questions with interesting, thought-provoking answers. And then there's the DO Dipilto. A first for the Latin American country, possibly even a groundbreaking one. Let's delve into the exciting world of Nicaragua's coffee together.
Table of contents
- Coffee in Nicaragua today
- Taste, volume, quality
- Challenges, Facts & Figures
- Coffee in Nicaragua yesterday
Coffee, an important economic sector?
The Central American country, with its capital Managua, borders Costa Rica to the south and Honduras to the north. It is characterized by a highly diverse geography, ranging from the Pacific and Caribbean Seas, many different microclimates, to a chain of active volcanoes.
Coffee cultivation is one of the most important agricultural industries and a source of income and jobs for many people. In Nicaragua, more than 330,000 people are employed in coffee, accounting for 15% of the labor market and 54% of the agricultural sector. Of these, 44,000 are coffee producers, 71% of whom own an average farm size of between 1 and 14 hectares.
The remoteness of many small farms, as well as the struggle with coffee rust, the natural disaster surrounding Hurricane Mitch, the civil war, and the dismantling of large farms in the 1980s are factors contributing to the country's slow realization of its potential as a major coffee-producing nation. Even today, politics continues to present coffee farmers with new challenges, directly or indirectly. Political and economic unrest and uncertainty are leading the Latin American country to contend with massive emigration. Among other things, this means that many farmers lack crucial labor for the harvest season. Further articles on the topic can be found here , for example.
Many smallholder farmers cultivate coffee in a natural way, partly out of conviction, and partly because they often have little money for pesticides. The proportion of certified organic coffee is approximately 10%.
Where does coffee grow in Nicaragua?
Nicaragua has a variety of soils, which vary by region. The soils in the mountainous regions are generally of volcanic origin and rich in organic matter. The highly fertile soil is ideal for coffee cultivation. In the lowland regions, the soil is generally sandier and better suited for crops such as tobacco, sugarcane, and cotton—or Robusta.
Robusta - legally regulated cultivation
What may be grown where is regulated by law. While there have been some farms in the Autonomous Region of the Southern Caribbean Coast officially permitted to cultivate Robusta since 2006, this was prohibited in other regions until recently. However, this cultivation was not yet economically significant. In 2016, the Association of Coffee Exporters (Excan) achieved a major success. The new legal reform has since permitted the cultivation of Robusta in seven departments in the Pacific region and in the two autonomous regions of the Atlantic coast. The resolution stipulates that Robusta must not be grown higher than 400 meters above sea level and at a minimum distance of 30 km from the nearest Arabica plantation. Just one year later, Robusta was even included in the Coffee Law. The reasons for this are again economic: in addition to the fact that Canephora produces a higher yield per plant, it also grows in low-lying areas and is resistant to many diseases, such as the dreaded coffee rust.
The economically relevant Arabica-growing regions are Nueva Segovia, Matagalpa, Estelí, and Jinotega. Nicaragua's potential to further increase the quantity and quality of coffee production is being slowly realized for various reasons. However, many forward-looking, revolutionary, and pioneering coffee farmers are ensuring that Nicaragua increasingly gains a firm place on the specialty coffee map.
https://www.cafeimports.com/europe/nicaragua
What is the classification system?
In Nicaragua, Arabica green coffee is classified according to altitude. It is assumed that the higher the coffee is grown, the better its flavor profile. The focus is primarily on acidity, which can develop better at higher farms. There is no specific classification for Robusta green coffee.
SHG (strictly high grown) for cultivation above 1200 meters altitude
· HG (high grown) for cultivation between 900-1200 meters above sea level
· CS for cultivation between 500-900 meters altitude
This type of classification plays a greater role in the evaluation of conventionally traded coffees. In the specialty coffee sector, Nicaragua follows the grading system of the CQI and the Specialty Coffee Association.
Nicaragua has also had a tradition of participating in the Cup of Excellence competition for many years.
What does coffee from Nicaragua taste like?
The dominant Arabica variety in Nicaragua is Caturra, accounting for 72% of the total Arabica cultivation area. Other common varieties are Bourbon, Catuai, Catimor, Paca, Maracaturra, Maragogype, and Pacamara, which are traditionally processed using the washed method. However, especially in Nueva Segovia, where our Santa Rita farm is located, there are some experimental producers who experiment with other varieties and post-harvest processes. The characteristic flavor characteristics of these washed varieties are notes of milk chocolate, caramel, honey, and nuts with medium acidity and medium body.
Robusta has gained considerable potential through improved harvesting. Some Fine Robustas offer notes of chocolate, fruit, and spice, as well as clean flavors with pleasant acidity and a round body. With Robusta, coffee farmers are also testing various post-harvest processes, such as honey .
Formative coffee farms for Nicaragua: a selection
Finca Santa Rita - our own coffee farm
Since 2017, we as Kaffeemacher GmbH have been the owner of the small Santa Rita coffee farm in Tablazon, Dipilto, about 30 km from Ocotal in the province of Nueva Segovia.
We became co-owners of Finca Santa Rita at the invitation of our friend and partner, Roberto Castellanos. The original impetus was to exchange ideas, financially stabilize, and further develop a small model farm.
Roberto has now taken over management of the family farm and asked us to take over and continue running Santa Rita entirely. We also purchase coffee from Roberto, and he is our neighbor in Dipilto Viejo with "Las Nubes."
Our goal is to operate as ecologically as possible and create a healthy ecosystem on the farm, with an intact flora and fauna system. A healthy ecosystem naturally also includes our employees, for whom we provide secure jobs, fair wages, good sanitation, access to education, and insurance.
We see Santa Rita as both a platform and a laboratory. As a platform, Santa Rita serves to invite other producers to engage in exchange with scientists and share what we've learned. As a laboratory farm, we conduct experiments with different varieties and post-harvest processes to achieve a stable harvest and to explore the flavors we can create on a small farm with targeted fermentations. You can find the coffees in our shop , seasonal and freshly harvested.
Finca El Àrbol - model farm of our partners
Claudia Lovo and Saša Šestić, along with other supporters, purchased Finca El Àrbol. The Australian is the founder of Ona Coffee and Project Origin, and is an Australian Master Barista and World Barista Champion. Since 2019, Claudia's partner, Tim Willem, has dedicated himself to continuously optimizing quality, focusing on the post-harvest process. The farm is run according to bio-regenerative principles and is home to 14 people who care for and nurture the created mini-ecosystem. Coffee, nature, and people should be able to live in harmony – this is the vision Claudia and Tim impart to their employees and visitors. The two are our local partners, involved as representatives and trustees, and manage Santa Rita in consultation with us.
Claudia and Tim are also the ones who conduct the annual Coffee Farm Training on the partner farm El Árbol.
Bridazul - Born from challenges
Coffee drying in Bridazul
"We are not a drymill nor an export company. We are the link between people with the same mindset."
Tim Willem, Finca El Àrbol and Bridazul
During the 2018/2019 harvest season, Claudia and Tim began experimentally drying coffee on their own farm. That same year, the country experienced significant political instability, resulting in a bank credit freeze, which was disastrous for coffee farmers. Several producers asked Claudia and Tim for help, hoping to get a higher price for their green coffee thanks to their strong network – otherwise, the farmers might have lost their farms. Tim and Claudia quickly called several friends and asked if they would be interested in buying coffee from Nicaragua. As a result, they were able to sell almost an entire container. Today, they lease a dry mill and sell between five and six containers of green coffee from approximately 45 producers. With Bridazul , they have also created a place where nature, people, and animals are treated with respect.
Mierisch Family
"The Mierisch Family were the first to make things better and put Nicaragua on the specialty radar."
Tim Willem, Finca El Àrbol and Bridazul
The undisputed and highly respected star producer is the Mierisch family. German immigrant Bruno Mierisch Boettiger planted the first coffee plant on his "Las Lajas" farm in 1908, laying the foundation for the most successful and award-winning Fincas Mierisch, which now includes 14 farms, three of which are in Rio Bonito, Honduras. This makes them one of the largest producers in the country, as a whopping 97% of the total 45,000 producers own less than 14 hectares, or 20 manzanas, of coffee cultivation.
Valladárez Family
The story of Luis Emilio Valladárez Zelaya begins in the 1960s in Dipilto, Nueva Segovia, when he inherited a small plot of land from his grandmother and began growing coffee. Conditions were difficult in the beginning, so the valuable cargo had to be transported by horseback to the nearest mill or even to the next village. He planted varieties such as Maracaturra, Maragogype, Java, Villa Sarchí, and Caturra and named his small farm "Buones Aires" – an award-winning finca that won the Cup of Excellence in 2015. His Maracaturras are considered by many to be the best in the country. The Valladárez family now owns several farms, including the equally award-winning Finca Miraflor, El Suyatal, Monte Libano, and La Laguna.
El Avion
Mario José González Rodríguez's farm is located 1,400-1,800 meters above sea level and is the 2022 Cup of Excellence winner. With 90.74 points, the naturally processed Red Catuai impressed the judges with stone fruit, plum, vanilla, crisp acidity, and a very present sweetness. The 100-manzanas El Avion farm has been in the hands of the winner since 2012. He cultivates coffee on just 20 manzanas, planting the two varieties Red Catuai and Catimor.
The Chianti of coffee: Designation of Origin DO Dipilto
With the Denominacion de Origen we want to protect the value that our coffee gives us.
Don “Milo” Emilio Gutierrez, President of the Asociacion de Cafetaleros de Nueva Segovia
Don «Milo» Emilio Gutierrez on his Finca Los Cypresses de Loma Fria, Nicaragua
Brimming with pride, Don "Milo" Emilio Gutierrez, owner of Finca Los Cypresses de Loma Fria and president of the Asociacion de Cafetaleros de Nueva Segovia, and above all a passionate agronomist, talks about the introduction of the Dipilto Designation of Origin. This "Denominacion de Origen de Café Dipilto" is the first of its kind in Nicaragua. It covers the areas of Dipilto, Macuelizo, and Mozonte in northern Nicaragua. "Ever since the Cup of Excellence was introduced in 2002, coffees from the Dipilto and Mozonte regions have consistently ranked highly," Don Milo explains. "That's when we decided to give something back to our farmers and our region by protecting the precious things our coffee gives us."
DO Dipilto area, Nicaragua
A DO protects a product from a specific location in terms of its quality, origin, and ingredients. Comparable designations of origin or origin in coffee are quality seals such as Café Marcala in Honduras, Genuino Antigua in Guatemala, and Café de Tarrazu in Costa Rica.
For DO Dipilto approval, 17 specifications had to be drawn up, including technical instructions for the post-harvest process, drying, and quality control. After four years of paperwork, the Cafetos de Segovia farm reached the milestone in 2022 and sold the first certified DO Dipilto lot to England.
Coffee exports from Nicaragua
A coffee year is treated similarly to a school year and lasts from October to September in Nicaragua. Therefore, the harvest year usually covers two years, for example, 2021/2022.
The most important port for exports is Corinth. A total of over 4.5 million bags , or just under 151 million kg of green coffee , were exported in the 2021/2022 coffee year. Nearly 9% of this was certified organic. The USA and Europe are the main buyers, accounting for 50%.
What are the biggest challenges?
In recent years, temperatures here in Dipilto have risen by around 10 degrees around Easter. While five years ago we had 25°C, today we're at 36°C or even 37°C.
Adan Mejía, Operations Manager Finca el Árbol and Finca Santa Rita, Nicaragua
The biggest problem, the seemingly insurmountable difficulty, is probably the climate in Nicaragua as well. The country is still struggling with other problems, such as the massive migration of Nicaraguans to the USA, which has a barely tangible impact on harvest workers. Many farms have far too few workers, which has a disastrous impact on their overall harvest, sometimes resulting in losses of up to 40%. According to a 2016/2017 study by FUNIDES, almost 74% of farms are affected by diseases, pests, and fungi that can destroy entire plots of land.
Colonialism and Nicaragua
Although the first coffee plants were planted in Nicaragua at the end of the 18th century, this stimulant, newly discovered by Europeans, didn't truly establish itself until the mid-19th century, when global demand increased significantly. The first large coffee farm was established in Managua, from where the business spread to other regions. German and Italian immigrants were encouraged by the Nicaraguan government to purchase land for coffee cultivation. And before anyone knew it, the coffee business was firmly in the hands of white landowners, who forced their workers to work for minimal wages and under the most adverse conditions.
Since 1987, Nicaragua has had 15 so-called departments, i.e. cantons or federal states, as well as two independent regions: the Autonomous Region of the Southern Atlantic Coast and the Autonomous Region of the Northern Atlantic Coast. After a 20-year conflict in which one party sought greater control over the Miskito indigenous people, while the latter, in turn, demanded greater autonomy, a peace agreement was finally signed in 1987, paving the way for the creation of the two autonomous regions. This is intended to protect the rights and cultural identity of the indigenous population and the descendants of African slaves. The regions operate with their own governments and laws, which are intended to take into account the cultural and linguistic ethnic groups. Despite a certain degree of independence, both regions are subject to the sovereignty of the country, with the government of Nicaragua having the final say.
Facts & Figures
