Guatemala showcases coffee beans at cupping event in Taiwan

By Kelvin Chen

TAIPEI, Taiwan, (Taiwan News) — The Embassy of Guatemala in Taiwan and the Central American Trade Office (CATO) on Thursday, June 9 jointly held the Guatemalan Coffee Cupping in Taiwan 2022 press conference at the Taiwan Coffee Laboratory to promote coffee beans from the Central American diplomatic ally.

Shirley Aguilar, deputy minister of foreign affairs of Guatemala, said that Taiwan is an emerging key market for Guatemalan coffee, and its import volume has grown by 40 percent in the past three years. Aguilar said she hopes to continue to share Guatemala’s coffee with Taiwanese, according to a Taiwan Digital Diplomacy Association (TDDA) press release.

CATO Director Augusto Liao (廖鴻達) said that Guatemalan coffee currently accounts for about 10-12 percent of the Taiwan market, making it the fourth-largest coffee importer in the nation. Taiwanese have cultivated a love and trust in Guatemalan coffee, he said.

Guatemala’s ambassador to Taiwan, Willy Alberto Gomez Tirado, said that Guatemala has rich terrain, including rainforests, highlands, and volcanoes, where coffee is grown. There are more than 300 microclimates in the Central American country, each with diverse climates and geographical patterns, he noted.

Gomez said the two unique characteristics of his country’s coffee are the diverse flavors created by the multiple production areas and the temperature at which the beans are manually planted. The ambassador said he believes Taiwanese coffee lovers can taste the enthusiasm, effort, and friendship poured into beans grown by Guatemalan farmers in every sip.

Wu Yi-ling (吳怡玲), vice president of the Taiwan Coffee Association, said that when she visited Central America for the first time in 1999, her first stop was Guatemala. The coffee beans at each farm must be certified by the Guatemalan National Coffee Association (Anacafe) before they can be exported, thus guaranteeing their quality and flavor.

A total of 20 Guatemalan coffee manufacturers participated in the event, providing products from the National Coffee Association of Guatemala, Coffee Exporters Association Guatemala (ADEC), the Verapaz Cooperative Federation (Fedecovera), and Caravela Coffee, TDDA said. A total of 44 samples of Guatemalan coffee were showcased.

After the event, CATO assisted Taiwanese and Guatemalan coffee companies to purchase products from their preferred Guatemalan coffee bean producers in a virtual matchmaking meeting.