Saint-Domingue supplied about half the world's coffee by 1788. Today Typica arabica dominates coffee grown across all ten departments.
Haiti's coffee history is long and interrupted. As the colony of Saint-Domingue it supplied about half the world's coffee by 1788, before the Haitian Revolution broke out in 1791. Haiti's coffee institute reports coffee grown in all ten departments and about 78 of 140 communes, with Arabica Typica covering roughly 80 percent of planted area. The main production basins it names are the Southeast (including the La Selle massif), Grand'Anse, the Central Plateau and the North. Soil erosion and deforestation have hurt the sector.
History
As the French colony of Saint-Domingue, Hispaniola's western part supplied about half the world's coffee by 1788. The Haitian Revolution broke out in 1791. Today Arabica Typica covers roughly 80 percent of planted area, and coffee is grown across all ten departments.
Field notes
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By 1788 the colony of Saint-Domingue supplied about half the world's coffee.
- ii
Haiti's coffee institute reports coffee grown in all ten departments and about 78 of 140 communes.
- iii
Haiti has suffered from soil erosion and deforestation.
- iv
A 2011 Catholic Relief Services assessment of southern Haiti's coffee chain reported more than 90 percent natural (dry) processing and under 5 percent washed, and named Typica and Borbon as the varieties most commonly grown.
- v
The coffee institute's table of high and medium potential zones is credited to a 1996 study by APROMA.
Where it growsCoffee is grown across all ten departments. Main basins include the Southeast (La Selle massif), Grand'Anse, the Central Plateau and the North.
Regions of Haiti
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The Southeast coffee basin around Thiotte and Belle-Anse, ranked among Haiti's high-potential zones. Typica dominates the country's coffee.
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An Artibonite-department coffee zone that Haiti's coffee institute ranks as medium potential.
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The Baptiste/Savanette basin of the lower Central Plateau, ranked among Haiti's high-potential coffee zones.
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A southwestern department that Haiti's coffee institute counts among its main basins, with Jérémie, Roseaux and Pestel rated high potential.
Varietals grown here
Species
Sources · 3 Every sentence here was checked against a source we read. Taste notes are what guides describe, not promises about your bag. Last revised 2026-11-11. Some details here are less settled than others.
- Coffee production in Haiti · Wikipedia
- Zones caféières · INCAH (Institut National du Café d'Haïti)
- Assessment of Haitian Coffee Value Chain: A participatory assessment of coffee chain actors in southern Haiti · Catholic Relief Services (Rodriguez, Castaneda, Lundy), fieldwork 2010