Guatemalan coffee producers face substantial losses

The rain threw the fruit before the time, said Gerardo de Leon, Marketing Manager of the Federation of Coffee Cooperatives of Guatemala (Fedecocagua).In some areas, losses are up 50%, and affected especially organic coffee, he said. San Marcos producer groups, Retalhuleu, Quetzaltenango and Huehuetenango were planning to produce 30 million pounds, but only get about 18 thousand.
Jorge Rodas, a small producer of Huehuetenango, said: “We plan to achieve 300 quintals of coffee, but I’m not going to come or a hundred. At night, I begin to mourn. In 2010 it was not as hard as this.” Read Article-Spanish