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Mexican Coffee Flavor Profile, Historical Story, and the Development and Crisis of Specialty Coffee

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, When listing famous coffee origins, Mexico is often excluded. Even FrontStreet Coffee's current bean menu doesn't feature Mexican coffee. However, this doesn't negate the numerous advantages of Mexican coffee: its unique fruity flavor characteristics, positive social and environmental impacts, and rich coffee production traditions. Coffee first arrived in Mexico in the late 1700s, brought by Spanish settlers

When people list famous coffee-producing regions, Mexico is often excluded. Even FrontStreet Coffee's current bean list doesn't feature Mexican coffee. However, this doesn't deny that Mexican coffee has numerous advantages: unique flavor profiles, positive social and environmental impacts, and a rich coffee production tradition.

Coffee first arrived in Mexico in the late 1700s, introduced by Spanish settlers. Today, the country produces a considerable amount of coffee, although its status as a global coffee producer has significantly decreased due to the entry of non-traditional Arabica coffee producers, particularly crop losses caused by coffee leaf rust. Although the country is one of the major exporters of certified coffee (organic and fair trade), the quality specialty market has not yet made significant progress here. This is not because Mexico lacks the potential to produce quality batches: the country has numerous planting areas with suitable altitudes and climates, as well as hundreds of thousands of experienced, mature small-scale farmers.

One problem facing the Mexican coffee industry is convincing the government of its importance. In 1989, the Mexican Coffee Institute (INMECAFE)—which had strictly controlled most aspects of the country's production since the 1970s—was suddenly dissolved by President Carlos Salinas de Gortari as part of neoliberal reforms in response to World Bank and other international financial institutions' requirements. The simultaneous dismantling of the International Coffee Agreement and its quota suspension (permanent to date) exposed producers to unprecedented price volatility without a safety net. Unable to access credit, markets, and with almost no technical support, Mexican coffee producers (the vast majority being small-scale with 10 hectares or less) found it difficult to cover minimum production costs and ensure their families' livelihoods. Even today, due to Mexico's multiple lucrative sources of income (such as industry and manufacturing, oil, tourism, and remittances), government efforts to promote the coffee industry are mainly limited to accumulating political influence in rural areas.

Another issue is market access and growers' awareness of the potential for quality production to bring price premiums (again, arguably related to the lack of some strong national advisory bureau). The industry is often dominated by large private exporters, and often multinational ones, with little information flowing to producers. The enormous distances between growing areas make communication, access, and collective action challenging.

However, not everything is doom and gloom. After the dissolution of INMECAFE, Mexican producers demonstrated talent in reorganizing into cooperatives of various forms and sizes, which enabled them to begin leveraging the emerging markets for fair trade and organic coffee in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since then, certification has gained a foothold in many of the most remote and vulnerable areas. This has only translated into quality improvements in very few cases, but in recent years, Mexican coffee-growing cooperatives/regions have pressured the government for more strategic investment in coffee. Their argument benefits from significant increases in global prices—making coffee a more attractive industry than during the coffee crisis of the 1990s. Additionally, the Cup of Excellence held its first competition in Mexico in 2012, raising growers' awareness of the specialty market and increasing buyers' recognition of Mexico's potential.

The recently established Mexican Coffee Production Chain Association (AMECAFE), as a cross-sector and private-public institution responsible for the Sistema Producto Café, shows some hope for revitalizing Mexican production by shifting toward specialty coffee. However, it is still too early, and the impact remains to be seen. The recently established Mexican Coffee Production Chain Association (AMECAFE), as a cross-sector and private-public institution responsible for the Sistema Producto Café, shows some hope for revitalizing Mexican production by shifting toward specialty coffee. However, it is still too early, and the impact remains to be seen. The Mexican Coffee Production Chain Association (AMECAFE) was recently established as a cross-sector and private-public institution responsible for the Sistema Producto Café, showing some hope for revitalizing Mexican production by shifting toward specialty coffee. However, it is still too early, and the impact remains to be seen.