Guatemala Cup of Excellence draws highest coffee entries in nine years

Guatemala’s specialty-coffee sector sent a strong signal this year: more producers were willing to put their best lots through Cup of Excellence, and buyers will have 27 winning coffees to watch when the auction opens on July 23. The competition drew 194 samples from across the country, the highest entry total in nine years and a 4.3 percent increase from 2025. Five coffees cleared 90 points and earned Presidential Award status.

That scale mattered because the 2026 competition was not a single cupping room moment, but a full qualification path. A total of 134 lots advanced to the National Competition, where they were judged by 14 international judges, two national judges and three observers under head judge Keita Matsumoto. Alliance for Coffee Excellence said the competition moved through multiple blind cupping rounds, and that the winning coffees remained fully traceable to the farm and micro-lot.

For Guatemala, the result list doubled as a market map. The five Presidential Award coffees were Las Macadamias in La Libertad, Huehuetenango; El Morito in Mataquesquintla, Jalapa; El Socorro in Palencia, Guatemala; El Injerto I in La Libertad, Huehuetenango; and Cascada Encantada in San Pedro Necta, Huehuetenango. Those names now sit at the top of the country’s quality conversation, where standout lots can attract roasters looking for distinct terroir, clean processing and the kind of cup clarity that stands out on a menu.

Luisa Fernanda Correa, the general manager of Anacafé, said growers’ commitment and the quality of Guatemalan coffee have helped position the country in international high-quality markets, and that platforms like Cup of Excellence help maintain that position. Anacafé has run the Guatemala program since 2001, using it to open specialty-market access, encourage continuous quality improvement and discover new cup profiles. The format for 2026 grouped coffees into Traditional Washed & Honey Processes, Traditional Natural Processes and an Experimental Category.

The money trail shows why producers keep entering. In 2025, Guatemala received 186 samples and awarded 30 winning lots; that auction sold for US$633,140.14, with the top coffee, La Gran Manzana in Huehuetenango, reaching US$143.10 per pound. Since 2001, Guatemala Cup of Excellence has auctioned 567 lots totaling 1.19 million pounds and US$12.2 million, a record that explains the appeal as clearly as any score sheet.