Coffee History

• First coffee trees arrived in Puerto Rico in 1736.

• By the 19th century “mild washed” Puerto Rican coffee obtained of the highest quotations in the world market.

• By the 1890’s Puerto Rico was the 4th largest coffee exporter in America.

• . By 1877 there were 843 registered coffee “haciendas” or “estancias”. Unofficial numbers put them in the thousands.

• Maricao municipality contained the highest number: 234.

• Immigrants from the French island of Corsica dominated the coffee commerce in the municipality of Yauco and immigrants from Spain’s Balearic Islands dominated the commercial activity in the municipality of Lares.

• The Haciendas, the major coffee plantations, not only planted and processed coffee but provided housing and stores, grew food crops, provided credit, produced charcoal and organic fertilizer and kept horses and mules. The Haciendas were self sufficient in most ways.

• Some even minted their own tokens.

• Today probably less than 35 of these haciendas are in livable condition and even fewer cultivate and process coffee.

• An inventory of structures has not been conducted for decades.

• By 1899, 69 municipalities cultivated coffee.

• Today the coffee zone is comprised of 22 municipalities. With only 55,000 acres dedicated to coffee cultivation.

• Coffee exports peaked in 1898 with over 600,000 quintals (1 quintal=100 pounds).

• More than a century later, for 2005/06, Puerto Rico produced 203,500 quintals. The Specialty Coffee exports for 2004/05 amounted to 12,585 quintals.

• The contribution of women, and small and medium coffee farmers to the industry has been overshadowed.

• In a recent survey of coffee farm owners they expressed great satisfaction with the work of women because “they are very responsible and absenteeism is very low”.

• In 2002, small and medium coffee farmers’ production accounted for 77.2% of all coffee production in the island, and the percentage is still increasing.

• It is believed that the coffee activity sustains, both directly and indirectly, over 200,000 households in the mountainous area of Puerto Rico.

• As a Caribbean island, Puerto Rico is part of the 25 Biodiversity Hotspots in the World.

• Six national forest reserves are located in the coffee zone.

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