“The idea is that the small and medium producer can sell their coffee without intermediaries, since these remain with the highest percentage and producers end up losing, and it is they who have made a large investment in their farms to produce a successful production,” said José Luis Medina, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Santa Bárbara, who together with the City Hall, the Government of the Republic and a specialized group of national and international judges are promoting the activity.
Darío Enamorado, a producer from the municipality of San Nicolás, said that in the department of Santa Bárbara there are “very good coffees that have not yet been discovered by the buyer”, so the competition is an initiative that will make it known what they really want.
Coffee is a leading agricultural product in the country’s exports and has established international prestige thanks to its quality. To date, about 16,000 coffee producers have been registered, which generate 10%, equivalent to a million sacks, of national grain production. Among the highest production areas are Atima, San Nicolás, Colinas and also the Santa Bárbara mountain.
During the harvest period, the coffee sector generates one million direct and indirect jobs.
For the Honduran economy, coffee represents the second generator of foreign currency, after family remittances.
Honduras in the fifth world exporter of coffee in 2016/17, according to the World Coffee Organization; It is also the third producer in Latin America and the first in Central America.