Honduras Crop 2026/27: An Early Look at the New Harvest

Honduras has officially entered its 2026/27 coffee harvest, with the first pickings now underway in lower and mid-altitude areas.

Activity is beginning in parts of Copán, Santa Bárbara, and Comayagua, particularly below 1,000 meters above sea level, where cherries mature earlier. Higher-altitude coffees will enter the market progressively as the season develops, with greater availability expected toward the end of the year and into early 2027.

At this stage, volumes remain limited, so it is still too early to draw conclusions about the overall quality of the crop.

A Slightly Lower Production Outlook

The harvest is beginning broadly within Honduras' usual seasonal calendar, although weather conditions during the year have created uncertainty around final yields.

According to the current forecast communicated by IHCAFE, production for the 2026/27 season is expected to reach approximately 7 million 46 kg bags, compared with 7.3 million bags exported during the previous campaign.

Periods of drought and higher temperatures affected some producing areas during the year. The sector had initially identified flowering potential closer to 8 million quintals, but current projections account for uncertainty associated with water stress.

The impact is not expected to be uniform. Production will depend heavily on local rainfall, farm conditions, and how individual plantations responded to the season.

Quality Will Become Clearer as the Harvest Advances

Honduras continues to offer significant varietal diversity, including Catuai, Bourbon, Pacas, Typica, Lempira, Parainema, and IHCAFE-90.

Higher-altitude regions also produce varieties associated with specialty programs, including Geisha and Pacamara in areas such as Intibucá, La Paz, and Santa Bárbara.

For now, however, there is not enough representative coffee available to establish a national quality trend.

The first arrivals will allow teams to evaluate maturity, physical defects, moisture, yield, and cup performance. More representative specialty profiles are generally expected to become visible later in the harvest, particularly between January and the first months of 2027 as higher-altitude coffees become available.

Producers Begin the Season With Cautious Optimism

Producer sentiment at the beginning of the season is generally positive, supported by international coffee prices and the economic performance of the previous harvest.

At the same time, production costs remain an important concern. Fertilizer prices, labor availability, and road conditions continue to affect farm operations and the movement of coffee from producing areas.

The Honduran government recently reported the distribution of more than 327,000 quintals of fertilizer to over 89,000 producers as part of its support for the sector.

Recent climatic conditions have also reinforced the importance of water management, soil conservation, irrigation where appropriate, and closer phytosanitary monitoring.

Preparing Aroma Café & Miel for the New Crop

Ahead of the harvest, Aroma Café & Miel completed a series of maintenance and calibration activities at its dry mill.

These included cleaning and sanitizing storage silos, calibrating density tables and weighing systems, maintaining the production line and electronic systems, aligning elevators, and reviewing supporting infrastructure.

The objective is to ensure that the mill is ready to handle increasing volumes while maintaining accuracy in weighing, separation, processing, and quality control.

Traceability Remains a Priority

This season also brings continued attention to infrastructure and traceability across the Honduran coffee sector.

The National Coffee Fund is planning investments of up to 100 million lempiras to rehabilitate approximately 200 to 250 kilometers of coffee roads across 46 municipalities in 10 producing departments.

Honduras is also expanding farm georeferencing as part of its national preparation for traceability and deforestation requirements associated with the EUDR. The government has announced a goal of georeferencing more than 400,000 manzanas of coffee belonging to over 120,000 producers.

For buyers, these efforts will become increasingly relevant as traceability requirements continue to evolve.

When Buyers Can Expect More Representative Availability

Coffee arrivals are expected to increase gradually as cherries mature across the country's different altitude ranges.

From an operational perspective, the period between approximately December 20, 2026 and February 20, 2027 is expected to represent the main harvest peak.

This is also when buyers can expect more representative volumes and samples, particularly from higher-altitude areas.

For buyers planning Honduras programs this season, the key factors to monitor will be availability, quality consistency, and traceability as the harvest develops.

Through Aroma Café & Miel and ElevaFinca, we will continue following the crop closely and sharing updates as more representative coffees become available for evaluation.