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Article: New coffee entrepreneurs. (Guatemala's Small Coffee Farmer Improvement Project)
- Article from:
- Tea & Coffee Trade Journal
- Article date:
- July 1, 1994
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Lockwood Trade Journal Co., Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The growth of the specialty coffee industry is not just a boon for coffee lovers, it is also the best thing to happen to many of Guatemala's coffee farmers in about 150 years. This is especially true for the country's smaller producers, many of whom live and work on farms in Guatemala's finest growing regions.
In a land comprised of approximately 45,000 square miles and over 22 different ethnic groups, Guatemala is a country immersed in the cultural heritage of its ancestors. Coffee farmers here are the direct descendants of both the original Mayan civilization and their Spanish conquerors. Coffee arrived around 1760 as an ornamental plant for the Jesuit ...