Members of the Coatepec Regional Coffee Council and the National Coordinator of Coffee Organizations (CNOC) denounced a severe punishment to the price of coffee in the middle of the 2025-2026 harvest, as well as an excessive increase in imports of low-quality robusta coffee, a situation that, they stated, directly impacts the economy of Mexican producers.
During a demonstration held in Plaza Lerdo, representatives of the coffee sector thanked the media coverage and explained that the current harvest is considerably delayed, caused by an atypical winter with extreme temperatures, in addition to strong effects from rust and predatory practices by marketers, a problem that, they noted, is repeated year after year.
The producers accused that, on a recurring basis, marketers allegedly coordinate with the stock market to impose punishments on the price of coffee, particularly in the period of greatest volatility, which coincides with the middle of the harvest. Added to this, they said, is the absence of clear and transparent government mechanisms to defend the price of aromatics.
Based on data documented at the close of the stock market on January 16, the international price of coffee stood at $355.30 per 100 pounds. By adding a punished differential of $8.50, the price would reach $363.80; However, when marketing expenses are discounted, estimated between 60 and 70 dollars, the real income is reduced to 303.80 dollars, which at the current exchange rate represents around 5,500 pesos per quintal of parchment coffee.
Under this scenario, coffee growers indicated that the fair price of cherry coffee in the field should be between 20.50 and 21 pesos per kilo. However, reports from various communities at the end of January 17 indicate that the highest price recorded was 17.50 pesos, while the majority of producers receive between 16 and 17 pesos per kilo, which represents a punishment of between 3 and 3.50 pesos per kilo.
They clarified that some prices of up to 18 pesos per kilo correspond to direct purchases from specialized cafeterias that pay a premium for quality, but they warned that these cases do not reflect the behavior of the conventional market, which continues to punish the producer.
Fernando Celis Callejas, representative of the convening organizations, pointed out that one of the main factors that is putting downward pressure on the price is the excessive increase in imports of robusta coffee, of lower quality and cost, coming mainly from Vietnam and Brazil. He detailed that Vietnam increased its coffee exports to Mexico by 1,220 percent, while Brazil did so by around 400 percent in recent months.
He indicated that, according to the International Coffee Organization (ICO), the price of robusta coffee in December was 190.50 dollars, well below the price of Mexican parchment coffee, which is around 381.60 dollars, which shows that robusta is worth less than half of national coffee.
Likewise, he said that the OIC reported exports from Mexico for 3.6 million bags in the 2024-2025 cycle, despite the fact that national production is 3.9 million bags and domestic consumption amounts to 3.1 million, which leaves a difference of approximately 800 thousand bags, attributable to imported coffee that would be exported as if it were of Mexican origin.
Coffee growers also denounced that transnational companies were importing large volumes of cheap robusta coffee to mix it with national coffee and export it, even under schemes that allegedly violate trade agreements.They mentioned the case of the French company Louis Dreyfus, which recently expanded a large warehouse in Tuxtepec, Veracruz, which — they assured — would be intended for the storage of imported robusta coffee.
Finally, they criticized the stagnation of the Coffee Law, which, they accused, was stopped in the Ministry of Economy by the interests of large transnational corporations, leaving the national coffee sector in a state of defenselessness against practices that continue to depreciate the price of Mexican coffee and seriously affect the economy of thousands of producers.
