Regional guide
Coffee-growing states of Mexico
From Chiapas to the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro, state by state: what each region grows, at what altitude, when it is harvested, which denominations of origin apply, and which companies operate there.
Coffee in Mexico: the overview
SIAP’s agricultural year-end report recorded coffee cherry production in 14 states during 2024: a little over one million tonnes across some 660,000 harvested hectares. Five of them — Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca and Guerrero — account for close to 95% of national volume; the rest is spread across small harvests that rarely make the general listings and that this guide documents in the same detail. The 13 profiles below cover the states with sustained production; the fourteenth, Morelos, recorded under 40 tonnes, and in 2025 Michoacán joined with under eight.
Almost all Mexican coffee is shade-grown Arabica, planted on the slopes of the Sierra Madre and the Gulf ranges. In the South Pacific region — Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero, which together account for more than half the crop and around 60% of the country’s growers — coffee grows between 600 and 1,600 metres above sea level, and the harvest runs from October to May. Mexico ranks among the world’s ten largest producers.
Each profile brings together the growing regions, the altitude at which coffee is cultivated, the harvest season, the documented varieties and the denomination of origin where one exists, alongside the companies — buyers, sellers, exporters, mills and warehouses — published in the directory for that state.
Main coffee-growing states
The states that account for most of Mexico’s coffee production.
Chiapas
1st nationally — 392,942 t of coffee cherry, 37% of the country’s volume (SIAP, 2024 agricultural year-end)
250 companies
Chiapas has Mexico’s largest area under coffee and harvested in 87 municipalities in 2024. Contrary to what is usually repeated, the highest-volume municipality is not Tapachula but Motozintla, at almost 44,000 tonnes. The high sierra grows the coffee that has won the Mexican Cup of Excellence: Finca Santa Cruz, in La Concordia, took first place in 2020, 2021 and 2022 with a natural Geisha scoring 93 points, grown at 1,700 metres.
Denominación de Origen Café Chiapas (DOF, 2003)
- Growing regions
- Motozintla, Tapachula y el Soconusco, Siltepec, Simojovel, Chilón, Comitán, Ocosingo
- Altitude
- 500 to 1,900 m above sea level depending on the region; the Denominación de Origen requires above 800 m
- Harvest
- October to May, with the bulk of the picking from November to March
- Varieties
- Bourbon, Caturra, Típica (Criollo), Costa Rica, Oro Azteca
Veracruz
2nd nationally — 256,460 t of coffee cherry, 24% of the country’s volume (SIAP, 2024 agricultural year-end)
263 companies
Coffee entered Mexico through Veracruz and the state is still the second producer, with 100 municipalities harvesting in 2024 and ten recognised growing regions. Coatepec made Veracruz coffee famous, but by volume it is only the state’s sixth municipality: the first is Tezonapa. The denomination of origin covers the whole state, and NOM-149-SCFI-2001 reserves the name for Arabica grown above 750 metres.
Denominación de Origen Café Veracruz (DOF, 2000)
- Growing regions
- Coatepec and Xalapa, Huatusco, Córdoba, Zongolica and Tezonapa, Atzalan, Misantla, Huayacocotla, Papantla and Coyutla, Chicontepec, Los Tuxtlas
- Altitude
- The Denominación de Origen applies above 750 m above sea level; the Coatepec belt runs from 700 to 1,400 m
- Harvest
- November to March in the Coatepec area
- Varieties
- Arabica (Coffea arabica), all varieties
Puebla
3rd nationally — 225,664 t of coffee cherry, 21% of the country’s volume (SIAP, 2024 agricultural year-end)
135 companies
Puebla is the most productive state in the country per hectare: 3.40 tonnes per hectare in 2024, more than double the national average of 1.60. The Sierra Norte holds the volume — Xicotepec alone contributes 12% of the state — and the Sierra Nororiental holds the organic coffee: in Cuetzalan, 76% of surveyed growers farm organically and most sell through the Tosepan Titataniske cooperative.
- Growing regions
- Sierra Norte (Xicotepec, Zihuateutla, Jopala), Sierra Nororiental (Cuetzalan, Hueytamalco, Huitzilan), Sierra Negra
- Altitude
- 700 to 1,800 m above sea level
- Varieties
- Criollo, Caturra, Catimor, Bourbon, Garnica
Oaxaca
4th nationally — 90,257 t of coffee cherry, 9% of the country’s volume (SIAP, 2024 agricultural year-end)
113 companies
Oaxaca has the most fragmented coffee geography in the country: 151 municipalities recorded production in 2024, almost twice as many as Chiapas, across Mexico’s second-largest planted area. Its denomination of origin, declared in 2020 and legally named Pluma, covers 30 municipalities of the Costa and the Sierra Sur — among them Pluma Hidalgo, which is in Oaxaca and not in Hidalgo — and supplies close to a quarter of the state’s coffee. The national Cup of Excellence winners of 2023 and 2024 both came out of San Juan Lachao.
Denominación de Origen Pluma (DOF, 2020)
- Growing regions
- Costa and Sierra Sur (Pluma area), Papaloapan, Cañada, Sierra Norte, Istmo, Mixteca
- Harvest
- November to April in the Pluma area, in three pickings: pepena, intermedia and arrase
- Varieties
- Típica, Pluma Hidalgo, Bourbon, Mundo Novo, Marsellesa, Oro Azteca, Sarchimor, Geisha
Guerrero
5th nationally — 34,991 t of coffee cherry, 3% of the country’s volume (SIAP, 2024 agricultural year-end)
41 companies
Guerrero’s production is extraordinarily concentrated: Atoyac de Álvarez alone accounts for 54% of the state’s coffee. La Montaña holds some of the highest documented coffee plots in the country, up to 2,105 metres in Malinaltepec, farmed mostly by Me’phaa, Mixtec, Amuzgo and Nahua growers on very small holdings. Together with Chiapas and Oaxaca it forms the South Pacific region, which produces 54% of Mexican coffee and is home to 60% of its growers.
- Growing regions
- Costa Grande (Atoyac de Álvarez), Costa Chica, La Montaña
- Altitude
- Plots documented between 1,060 and 2,105 m above sea level in La Montaña
- Harvest
- December to February in La Montaña
- Varieties
- Típica, Bourbon, Colombia, Costa Rica 95, Sarchimor
Other coffee-growing states
Smaller harvests, often high-altitude and niche, that rarely appear in general listings.
Hidalgo
6th nationally — 25,774 t (SIAP, 2024 agricultural year-end)
21 companies
Hidalgo grows coffee in 24 municipalities across three mountain areas; Huehuetla, in the Otomí-Tepehua region, accounts for more than a fifth of state volume. It is a state of family-run shade plots that is beginning to move towards specialty: the Galti cooperative, in Tenango de Doria, reported an 85-point cup from coffee grown between 1,250 and 1,400 metres.
- Growing regions
- Otomí-Tepehua (Huehuetla, San Bartolo Tutotepec, Tenango de Doria), Sierra Alta (Tlanchinol, Calnali), Huasteca hidalguense
- Altitude
- 1,250 to 1,400 m above sea level on the documented plots in Tenango de Doria
Nayarit
7th nationally — 12,030 t (SIAP, 2024 agricultural year-end)
29 companies
Nayarit is the most recent coffee state to win a denomination of origin: Café Nayarit was declared in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 3 March 2026, after Tequila and Raicilla. It protects Arabica exclusively, from four municipalities — Compostela, San Blas, Ruiz and Xalisco — which in 2024 accounted for 86% of state production, with natural, washed and honey processing all documented in the area.
Denominación de Origen Café Nayarit (DOF, 2026)
- Growing regions
- Compostela, San Blas, Ruiz, Xalisco
- Varieties
- Arabica (Coffea arabica)
San Luis Potosí
8th nationally — 9,885 t (SIAP, 2024 agricultural year-end)
14 companies
All of San Luis Potosí’s coffee grows in the Huasteca: eight municipalities, led by Xilitla with 37% of state volume. These are plots held by Teenek and Nahua ejido farmers, of 2 to 15 hectares, with low yields — 0.61 tonnes per hectare in 2024 against a national average of 1.60 — planted since the mid-19th century with material brought from Veracruz.
- Growing regions
- Huasteca Potosina (Xilitla, Aquismón, Tamazunchale, Matlapa)
- Varieties
- Típica (Criollo), Bourbon, Mundo Novo
Buyers in San Luis PotosíSellers in San Luis PotosíExporters in San Luis Potosí
Colima
9th nationally — 3,635 t (SIAP, 2024 agricultural year-end)
12 companies
Colima grows coffee in five municipalities on the slopes of the Volcán de Fuego, and half the volume comes out of Comala. It is a small and renewing sector: in 2025 the state government handed out 7,000 Oro Azteca seedlings to growers in Comala, Cuauhtémoc and Villa de Álvarez, with support from INIFAP and FIRA.
- Growing regions
- Comala, Minatitlán, Cuauhtémoc, Manzanillo
- Varieties
- Oro Azteca
Jalisco
10th nationally — 3,592 t (SIAP, 2024 agricultural year-end); 5,575 t in 2025
84 companies
Coffee farming in Jalisco is split between the Sierra Occidental and the Costa Sur, led by Cuautitlán de García Barragán and Cabo Corrientes. Talpa de Allende shows how fragile it is: its 1,900 planted hectares — the most in the state — were recorded as entirely lost in 2024 and yielded no harvest, and accounted for all the coffee area lost nationwide that year.
- Growing regions
- Sierra Occidental (Cabo Corrientes, Talpa de Allende), Costa Sur (Cuautitlán de García Barragán), Sur (Amacueca)
- Harvest
- January to March, in three pickings
Estado de México
11th nationally — 503 t (SIAP, 2024 agricultural year-end)
22 companies
Coffee in the State of Mexico is grown in eight municipalities in the south, and more than half comes from Amatepec, where 230 growers work some 338 hectares through the CAFOA cooperative. It is one of the few places in the country where dry processing dominates: 82% of Amatepec’s coffee is natural-processed, against an overwhelmingly washed Mexico.
- Growing regions
- Amatepec, Sultepec, Temascaltepec, Malinalco, Ocuilan, Tlatlaya
- Harvest
- November to April, peaking between January and March
- Varieties
- Típica, Caturra roja, Oro Azteca, Costa Rica, Pacamara
Buyers in Estado de MéxicoSellers in Estado de MéxicoExporters in Estado de México
Tabasco
12th nationally — 430 t (SIAP, 2024 agricultural year-end)
9 companies
Tabasco keeps a minimal coffee sector in three mountain municipalities, led by Huimanguillo. It is Arabica: despite the hot, humid climate, no Robusta is grown in the state. The Tacotalpa area once had thousands of hectares and cooperatives of its own, before the price collapse of the 1990s turned much of the coffee land into pasture.
- Growing regions
- Huimanguillo, Tacotalpa, Teapa
Querétaro
13th nationally — 117 t (SIAP, 2024 agricultural year-end)
25 companies
Querétaro is the smallest producer in this guide and the most concentrated in the country: a single municipality, Landa de Matamoros, with 199 hectares, accounts for 100% of the state’s coffee. It grows in Sierra Gorda communities such as Agua Zarca and Neblinas, inside the biosphere reserve. Neither Jalpan de Serra nor Pinal de Amoles records any coffee production with SIAP, though both are often described as coffee towns.
- Growing regions
- Landa de Matamoros, in the Sierra Gorda
- Varieties
- Arabica (Coffea arabica)
Buyers in QuerétaroSellers in QuerétaroExporters in Querétaro
Browse by company type
The directory can also be browsed by role, with nationwide coverage.
- Coffee buyers and roasters — who buys Mexican coffee.
- Sellers and producers — producers, cooperatives and farms selling green coffee.
- Exporters — companies shipping Mexican coffee abroad.
Other states in the directory
No significant coffee farming, but buyers, roasters, warehouses and distributors in the sector.
Frequently asked questions
How many Mexican states grow coffee?
SIAP’s agricultural year-end report recorded coffee cherry production in 14 states in 2024 and in 15 in 2025, once Michoacán joined with under eight tonnes. Thirteen of them have sustained production and are the ones this guide documents; the remaining two, Morelos and Michoacán, contribute marginal amounts. The top five — Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca and Guerrero — account for close to 95% of national volume.
Which Mexican state produces the most coffee?
Chiapas, with 392,942 tonnes of coffee cherry in 2024, 37% of national volume, across the largest planted area in the country. Its highest-volume municipality is Motozintla, not Tapachula. Veracruz (24%) and Puebla (21%) follow.
How many coffee denominations of origin does Mexico have?
Four, all declared by IMPI and published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación: Café Veracruz (2000), Café Chiapas (2003), Pluma (2020, across 30 municipalities of the Costa and Sierra Sur of Oaxaca) and Café Nayarit (2026, in Compostela, San Blas, Ruiz and Xalisco). It is often written that there are only two: that figure is out of date.
When is coffee harvested in Mexico?
The Mexican coffee year runs from 1 October to 30 September. In the South Pacific region — Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero — the harvest runs from October to May and concentrates between November and March. The Pluma denomination-of-origin declaration sets a November-to-April harvest in three pickings, and in Amatepec, State of Mexico, the documented peak runs from January to March.
At what altitude is coffee grown in Mexico?
It depends on the region. In the South Pacific, coffee grows between 600 and 1,600 metres above sea level, and plots as high as 2,105 metres have been documented in La Montaña, Guerrero. The only altitudes with regulatory force are the floors set by the denominations of origin: above 750 metres for Café Veracruz, under NOM-149-SCFI-2001, and above 800 metres for Café Chiapas.
Sources
The production, area and harvest-calendar figures on this page come from official and academic sources.
- SIAP, Cierre de la producción agrícola (café cereza, ciclo perennes, 2024 y 2025)
- IMPI, Declaraciones generales de protección de denominaciones de origen
- DOF, Declaratoria general de protección de la denominación de origen Café Chiapas (27 de agosto de 2003)
- DOF, Declaratoria general de protección de la denominación de origen Café Veracruz (15 de noviembre de 2000)
- DOF, Declaración de protección de la denominación de origen Pluma (4 de febrero de 2020)
- DOF, Solicitud de declaración de protección de la denominación de origen Café Nayarit (25 de noviembre de 2025)
- INIFAP, Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Agrícolas: la región cafetalera del Pacífico Sur
- Universidad Veracruzana, Café de Veracruz: regiones y productores
- Alliance for Coffee Excellence, resultados del Cup of Excellence México