Honduras El Socorro Buho

Since the establishment of the IHCAFE organization, coffee producers and growing regions across Honduras have benefited from expanded resources and knowledge base assistance. This includes the El Socorro Buho growers in the larger El Socorro community, as well as neighboring growing regions such as Montecillos. IHCAFE, formerly the Honduran Coffee Institute, was initially formed in 1970 by the Honduran government to develop and strengthen Honduras’ coffee growing regions in a manner similar to the very successful and well-known Colombian model. In the year 2000 the institute was formally transformed into IHCAFE, creating an independent, non-profit organization to promote and bolster improved growing and processing techniques.

As a result, over the last 15 – 20 years Honduras has greatly improved its production and growing practices in response to an expanding Central American market. In 2011 Honduras became Central America’s top coffee producer, surpassing heavyweight Guatemala and inching closer to that of Colombia. While once known as a producer of lower grade Centrals, recent upgrades to infrastructure, combined with expanded support for sustainable growing practices has successfully established Honduras as a regional leader in specialty coffee production.