Coffee in Venezuela

Venezuela was once one of the great coffee countries. Until the oil boom of the 1920s, coffee was among its main exports, grown above all in the Andes of Táchira, Mérida and Trujillo. Today most of the crop comes from Lara and Portuguesa, and the Andes grow the best of it. After a collapse around 2020 to levels last seen in 1921, NTN24 reported, production is recovering, but nobody agrees by how much. Here’s what the sources say.

The short version

• Lara and Portuguesa grow most of the coffee; the Andes win the prizes.
• Harvest from October to mid-March, peaking in November and December.
• Output disputed: Fedeagro says 1.8 million quintales projected for 2026/27, USDA 500,000 bags, the government several times more.
• Arabica in the mountains, mainly at 900–1,800 metres.
• A major exporter until the oil boom of about 1920; little is exported now.

How much coffee does Venezuela grow?

The figures are among the most disputed of any origin. Venezuelans count in quintales of 46 kg (Fedeagro’s 880,000 quintales equal 40,480 tonnes):

Year	Fedeagro (growers)	Government	USDA
Early 2000s	About 1.8 million quintales (2006)
2012–2013	500,000 quintales, a historic low
2020–21	350,000–380,000 quintales, “the worst of all time”
2021		3,188,880 quintales	500,000 bags
2022		3,831,498 quintales projected	500,000 bags
2024–25	1.15 million quintales projected (Nov 2024)		500,000 bags
2026		216,200 t (about 4.7 million quintales, by our calculation)	500,000 bags
2026–27	1.8 million quintales projected		500,000 bags

Sources: Fedeagro via La Prensa del Táchira, NTN24, Fedeagro’s website and Finanzas Digital; government via Últimas Noticias and the communication ministry; USDA. USDA’s bags are 60 kg.

USDA’s 500,000 bags, about 30,000 tonnes, are closer to Fedeagro’s figures than the government’s. Fedeagro’s own accounts of the past differ: its officials have said the country grew 1.8 million quintales in 2006, and 1.8 million bags a year in the 1980s or 1990s. The Venezuelan Coffee Corporation says the agriculture ministry holds the official harvest figures. By any count, the crop has recovered since 2020, which Fedeagro credits to growers’ investment, a price agreement between farmers and roasters, and the rise of speciality coffee and cafés.

Where is coffee grown in Venezuela?

Mostly in Lara and Portuguesa, then the Andean states. The government’s 2026 figures:

State	Production, 2026	Other figures
Lara	41,000 t	Over 890,000 quintales a year (Ciudad CCS, 2026)
Portuguesa	38,260 t	832,000 quintales in 2024–25 on over 52,000 ha (Últimas Noticias, 2025)
Táchira	12,000 t
Trujillo	8,500 t	410,000 quintales a year on 18,529 ha (Diario de Los Andes, 2024)
Mérida	6,200 t	More than 27,000 ha (state government, 2025)

Source: communication ministry, citing the Venezuelan Coffee Corporation, April 2026.

Lara and Portuguesa together grow 84% of Venezuela’s coffee, Ciudad CCS reported in 2026; in 2024 the Venezuelan Coffee Corporation said they had 90,000 hectares between them. In Portuguesa, coffee grows in the uplands of Biscucuy, Chabasquén, Araure, Ospino and Guanare, and the state has 68 roasting companies, more than any other. In 2022 the government ranked the leading states as Lara, Portuguesa, Trujillo, Mérida, Táchira, Monagas and Sucre, with 85% of output between them. The corporation counts 20 coffee states, 136 municipalities and 240,000 hectares; in 2025 President Maduro spoke of 250,000 hectares.

The coffee

Venezuela grows arabica in the highlands, traditionally under shade, and robusta in the lowlands, Wikipedia notes. Coffee grows mainly at 900 to 1,800 metres, the chair of the National Assembly’s environment committee said in 2019. Quality suffered in the crisis years: without diesel for dryers, much coffee was not fully dried and could smell fermented, and many growers picked half-ripe cherries to save money, Fedeagro said. In 2024 roasters paid US$180 a quintal for ordinary coffee, US$190 for natural and US$200 for washed, almost $100 below world prices, growers said.

The Andes produce the best of it. Trujillo and Mérida specialise in speciality coffee, the Venezuelan Coffee Corporation says, and they dominate the national contest, the Encuentro Internacional de Cafés de Especialidad:

Year	Winner	State	Coffee	Score
2024	Alejandro José Torres	Trujillo	Typica	90
2025	Eloína de los Ángeles Useche, Hacienda Aires de Campo	Mérida	Geisha, natural	91.54 (a record)
2025 (2nd)	Ricardo Lozada, Hacienda El Recreo	Carabobo	Geisha, experimental	91.03
2025 (3rd)	Roney Durán, The Roros Coffee, Boconó	Trujillo	Tabi	90.38
2025 (5th)	Jenny Escalona and Alberto Gil Escalona	Lara		89.83

Sources: Diario VEA, Prensa Presidencial, Diario de Los Andes.

Protected origins

Venezuela’s intellectual property office, SAPI, has granted four coffee geographical indications:

Name	Area	Granted	Altitude	Official profile
Café de Boconó	Ten parishes of Boconó, Trujillo	25 November 2022	1,000–2,500 m	Peach, lemon, grapefruit, plum, nuts, spice, dark chocolate; balanced acidity
Café de Mérida	Six municipalities of Mérida	27 October 2023	Municipal seats 601–1,507 m	Jasmine, lemongrass-like citrus acidity, intense cacao; sweet, balanced
Café de Miranda	Eight municipalities of Miranda, near Caracas	20 March 2025	700–2,000 m	Sweet, fruity, nutty, floral, lemon, black tea, dark chocolate, raspberry, peach
Café de Lara	The whole of Lara	23 December 2025	800–1,700 m	Cacao and chocolate, papelón and caramel, orange, mandarin and lemon

Source: SAPI. Café de Boconó was the first, announced in February 2023.

When is coffee harvested in Venezuela?

The 2024–25 harvest began on 1 October and was due to end in mid-March, with the biggest pickings in November and December, Fedeagro said. Other accounts put the peak in December and January, with the east of the country later, in January and February. Higher farms are picked later than lower ones, and a shortage of diesel for dryers delayed the high-altitude harvest in 2024.

Who grows Venezuelan coffee?

Small farmers, mostly in the mountains. The Venezuelan Coffee Corporation counted 60,000 coffee families in 2024; a Fedeagro director said in 2021 that the number of growers had fallen from over 100,000 to about 40,000. Yields were about 30 quintales a hectare in 2021, a Fedeagro director said, against 50–60 for the best farms of Lara’s Villanueva parish in good years; the government gave a national average of 18 quintales in 2022. Growers’ leaders have warned of deforestation, including in Yacambú National Park in Lara, and of coffee planted in full sun around Sanare and Morán, abandoning the shade trees that once made coffee growers “guardians of the mountain”.

Where does Venezuelan coffee go?

Little is exported now. From 1960 to 2010 exports ranged from about 20,000 to 45,000 tonnes a year, peaking in 2005, Diario de Los Andes says. In the first five months of 2024 Venezuela exported 3,072,700 kg, the government’s foreign-trade portal showed. The Venezuelan Coffee Corporation lists its markets as Italy, Türkiye, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Russia, Syria, the United States and Japan. Venezuelans drank about 1.2 million quintales a year in 1999, Fedeagro says.

A short history

• 1732: the Jesuit José Gumilla is credited with introducing coffee, Wikipedia says.
• 1830s: Venezuela is the world’s third-largest coffee exporter.
• Until about 1920: coffee is one of Venezuela’s leading exports; in 1919 coffee and cacao make up 75% of exports.
• 1920s onwards: the oil boom leaves coffee behind.
• 1950s: coffee centred on Táchira, Mérida and Trujillo spreads to Lara, Portuguesa and the Barinas foothills.
• 2012–2013: harvests fall to 500,000 quintales.
• 2020: a low of 350,000 quintales, Fedeagro says.
• 2025: a Mérida Geisha scores a record 91.54 in the national contest.
• 2026: Fedeagro projects 1.8 million quintales for 2026–27.

Venezuelan coffee and other origins

• Coffee in Colombia: the neighbour to the west.
• Coffee in Brazil: South America’s giant.
• The atlas: Venezuela’s coffee states on the map.