Skip to main content

Summer Archives

Mac Muir

Antigua, Guatemala - Specialty coffee market research

The faculty fellows project entailed researching the coffee supply chain in Guatemala with a particular eye towards small farmers’ access to specialty coffee markets. We interviewed around fifty participants spanning the entire supply chain including small, medium and large producers, intermediaries, exporters, field technicians, cuppers and roasters. The question sets focused on the relationships between elements of the supply chain and their relative and differing knowledge levels. We found that small farmers are currently trapped in their trading with intermediaries for three reasons: (1) They lack knowledge of how buyers judge quality (2) They lack knowledge of the mechanics of the supply chain after it leaves their hands (3) They lack financing that allows them to take larger risks and wait for a delayed, higher payment. This information was delivered to Anacafe in a report and can be used as a basis for more detailed research and to plan a business intervention to shift more power in to the hands of small farmers.