Before a coffee cherry reaches its familiar deep-red color, it begins as a small white flower. Flowering is one of the most important stages of the coffee production cycle, because its timing helps determine when the following harvest will occur. Rainfall plays a particularly important role: after a dry period, the arrival of rain can stimulate coffee trees to flower. In Costa Rica, ICAFE reported that abundant rainfall in February and March 2024 stimulated flowering across m

In specialty coffee, exporting should mean much more than moving green coffee from one country to another. To represent a coffee properly, exporters need to understand where it comes from, who produced it, how it was processed and where it will ultimately be served. Visiting farms makes it possible to see firsthand the conditions behind each lot: altitude, varieties, agricultural practices, harvest decisions and processing methods. These details provide the context needed to

When people think about the world's major coffee origins, China may not be the first country that comes to mind. Yet in the mountains of Yunnan, in southwestern China, a rapidly evolving coffee industry is gaining international attention. The province is responsible for more than 98% of China's coffee production, and in 2025 it had approximately 97,500 hectares of coffee plantations, producing around 138,900 metric tons of green coffee. Yunnan's geography provides an interest

Bolivia’s 2026 coffee harvest is now at one of its most important stages, particularly in the Yungas of La Paz, where most of the country’s coffee is produced. Caranavi, Bolivia’s main coffee-growing region, accounts for around 85% of national production, while the Bolivian National Coffee Council estimates total annual production at close to 100,000 60-kg bags, of which between 60,000 and 70,000 are potentially available for export. This year, however, persistent rainfall du