Chiapas

Chiapas, whose Soconusco coast lies near the border with Guatemala, is Mexico’s coffee giant. It grows more than a third of the country’s crop, from robusta on the hot lowlands to high-grown arabica in the mountains, and since 2003 its arabica has been protected as Café Chiapas. Its harvest starts earliest in Mexico, climbing the mountains from September to May.

The short version

• Mexico’s biggest coffee state: 36.5% of the crop in 2024/25.
• Café Chiapas: arabica above 800 m, a denomination of origin since 2003.
• Harvest from September to May, starting low and moving uphill.
• Mexico’s main robusta state too.
• About 170,000 producers, most on 2 hectares or less.

What does Chiapas coffee taste like?

There is no official flavour profile; the Café Chiapas standard scores aroma, acidity, body and flavour from 0 to 5, and the highest grade must score top marks for each. The newspaper Excélsior describes Chiapas coffee as having a bright acidity, an intense jasmine aroma and deep notes of chocolate and tropical fruit, from its volcanic soils and mountain forests.

The grades of Café Chiapas

The official standard grades the coffee by altitude:

Grade	Altitude	Acidity score (0–5)
Estrictamente Altura	Above 1,000 m	5
Altura	Above 900 m	5
Extra Prima Lavado	Above 800 m	4–5
Prima Lavado	Above 800 m	3–5

Source: NOM-169-SCFI-2007.

Only arabica qualifies, grown in the 77 municipalities named in the declaration of 27 August 2003.

How much coffee does it grow?

More than any other state:

Measure	Figure	Source
Share of Mexico’s crop, 2024/25	36.5%	SIAP, via La Crónica
Coffee cherry, 2021	384,937 t (40.8%)	SIAP
Area planted, 2021	253,458 ha	SIAP
Producers	About 170,000, 85% on ½–2 ha	State congress, via Notimex (2012)

Chiapas is also the leading producer of robusta, which Mexico is expanding for its instant-coffee industry, USDA says. Coffee came to Chiapas at the end of the 19th century, Wikipedia says, and it has become Mexico’s main coffee region.

When is it harvested?

From September. The harvest begins in September in the lowest zones, the coast and Soconusco at about 500 metres, then moves up through the Norte, Selva, Mezcalapa, Sierra and Altos regions, and is finished by April or May, the head of the state congress’s coffee commission said in 2012.

Chiapas and other Mexican origins

• Coffee in Mexico: the whole country, its harvest and its history.
• Veracruz: where Mexican coffee began.
• Oaxaca: Pluma coffee from the Sierra Madre del Sur.