Coffee growers from the Venezuelan states of Portuguesa and Lara protested on Monday, 12 October 2026, outside two major roasters in Araure, Portuguesa, and declared an emergency over the prices they are being paid for this year's harvest. El Pitazo reported that the growers gathered at Café Amanecer and at the headquarters of Grupo Botalón, and that they asked the Venezuelan Coffee Corporation (CVC) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands to stop issuing the movement permits needed to transport coffee until the agreed prices are paid. The same reporter, Mariangel Moro Colmenárez, covered the protest for Portuguesa Reporta, and El Informador of Barquisimeto published its own account the same day.
Growers first raised the complaint at an assembly in Araure on 1 October, when they said roasters were paying below the agreed prices and announced they would ask the authorities to step in, according to Mundo Agropecuario. Portuguesa Reporta reported that Monday's protest had been announced in advance.
What prices were growers promised?
El Pitazo reported on 12 October that growers say prices of $295, $300 and $310 per quintal, depending on the grade of the coffee, were agreed in August. Mundo Agropecuario reported on 7 October that producers, processors, roasters and agricultural authorities signed a price record on 12 September for the 2026-27 green coffee harvest: $310 for grade 3, $300 for grade 4, $295 for grade 5 and $270 for robusta, with grades 1 and 2 left to direct negotiation between grower and buyer. The outlet reported that the record calls for payment in bolívars at the official rate of the Central Bank of Venezuela. The two outlets date the agreement differently, and neither published the document itself.
What do growers say they are being paid?
Growers told El Pitazo on 12 October that the roasters are paying between $220 and $240 per quintal, with some sales reaching $280, which is still under the agreed figures. El Informador reported a range of $210 to $240 on the same day. Alexander Carreño, a grower quoted by El Pitazo on 12 October, said producers are losing between $50 and $70 on every quintal. On El Pitazo's figures, that gap is between a sixth and nearly a quarter of the $295 agreed for the lowest of the three grades.
Growers also put their own production cost at $320 to $360 per quintal, according to El Pitazo's 12 October report, which is above every agreed price. That is the growers' estimate rather than an audited figure. El Pitazo reported that about 30% of the harvest had been picked by 12 October.
What did the coffee authority's inspector say?
A CVC inspector, whose first name the two outlets print differently, said that inspection records show some roasters accepting only two sacks per producer while traders receive larger quantities, according to El Pitazo. Félix Saavedra, who speaks for the growers, said the companies are limiting how much coffee they receive, which makes it hard for growers to sell the whole crop. El Informador reported on 12 October that the inspector confirmed irregularities through official inspections, and that the two roasters named process about 80% of Venezuela's coffee.
Have the roasters or the government responded?
None of the three outlets reported a response from Café Amanecer, Grupo Botalón, the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands or the CVC. El Informador reported that the growers had received no answer from institutions before Monday. The growers told El Pitazo they would keep protesting until the agreed prices are paid. Everything above about prices paid comes from growers and the inspector, as reported; none of the outlets cited here published purchase records from the companies.
Earlier reports on this site covered the strong colón and Costa Rica's coffee growers and El Niño and drought in Central America.
Photograph: Quang Nguyen Vinh, Unsplash.
