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Trade · Supply

Harvest calendars

When coffee is picked in each producing country, why many origins have two crops, and how altitude spreads the harvest over the year.

Source-checkedby Coffearium verification pass· Last source-checked 12 Oct 2026· Prepared with AI assistance· 25 sources (24 tier A)· 4 contested· Updated 12 Oct 2026
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Contents
  • Coffee is picked in different months in every origin, so fresh crops reach the market across the whole year: Brazil from April or May to September, Colombia mainly October to December, Vietnam late October to January.1,2,3
  • Many origins have two harvests a year: a main crop and a second crop, called the “fly” crop in Kenya and the “mitaca” in Colombia.2,4,5,22
  • Within a country the timing moves with altitude: in Costa Rica picking starts around August in the low south and can run to May in high areas.6

Why harvest timing matters#

Coffee cherries ripen once or twice a year, and the months differ from origin to origin. The harvest in Brazil, the largest producer7, runs from April (robusta) or May (arabica) to about September.1 In Colombia the main harvest is October to December2, in Vietnam late October to January3, and in Peru April to September, with about 85% of the crop picked from April to July.8 Because the seasons are spread over the year, some origin is harvesting in every month (see the calendar below).

The harvest also sets when coffee can be shipped. In the Central African Republic, for example, cherries are picked from November to January; the first shipments leave in January or February and exports run from February to August.9

The calendar#

The tool shows the harvest months of 28 producing countries, which together grew about 97% of the world’s coffee in 2024 (our calculation from FAOSTAT, which has no 2024 figure for Nicaragua).7 Pick a month to see who is harvesting and what share of the world crop those countries grow; tap a country for its notes and sources. Bars show the months as each source states them, so a country can have several bars when sources split it by species or by crop.

Tool

Harvest calendar

When coffee is picked in 28 producing countries, month by month: main and second crops, which countries are harvesting now and what share of the world crop they grow.

Open as a standalone tool →

Harvesting in

Countries
Share of world cropof 2024 production (FAO)
Countries listed2897% of world production
Main harvestHarvest (main crop not named)Second or fly cropIn some areas onlyStart stated, end notAll yearPeak

Harvest months as each source states them; timing shifts with altitude, weather and year. Tap a country for its notes and sources. Share of world crop: countries harvesting in the chosen month, by their 2024 production (FAOSTAT); our calculation.

Main crop and second crop#

Many origins harvest twice. In Colombia the main harvest runs from October to December and a second crop, the mitaca, comes from April to June, mainly in the central coffee region.2 Kenya picks two crops, from April to June and from October to December.4 In Indonesia, arabica is harvested in April and May and again from September or October.5 In Papua New Guinea the main harvest runs from May to July, but enough cherries ripen from March to October for additional picking.10

In Uganda harvesting goes on all year, with two peaks: November to February and June to September.11 The main and minor harvests swap places between regions, depending on whether they lie north or south of the equator.12

Altitude and region#

A single country can harvest over many months. In Costa Rica the harvest is concentrated from November to February, but it starts around August in the lower south and can end around May in some high areas.6 In Guatemala it usually begins at the end of November and runs to March; it comes later in high areas such as Antigua and Huehuetenango and a little earlier in the lowlands.13 In Honduras the picking season runs from October to March, depending on the altitude of the farm.14 In Rwanda, picking starts in late February on the shores of Lake Kivu and in early March elsewhere, and some northern areas pick until August.15

Robusta and arabica in the same country can ripen at different times. In India arabica is harvested from November to January and robusta from December to February16; in Laos arabica from October to December and robusta from December to February.17

Reference table: harvest months by country#

Country Harvest months Source
Brazil Robusta (conilon): Apr–Sep; Arabica: May–Sep 1
Vietnam Robusta: Oct–Jan 3
Colombia Main harvest: Oct–Dec; Mitaca (second crop): Apr–Jun 2
Indonesia Robusta, southern Sumatra: Apr–May onwards (end not stated), Jun–Jul (peak); Arabica: Apr–May, Sep–Oct onwards (end not stated) 5
Ethiopia Arabica: Aug–Jan 18
Uganda Robusta: all year, Nov–Feb (peak); Arabica: Sep–Dec; Peaks, both species (USDA 2014): Nov–Feb (peak), Jun–Sep (peak) 18,11
India Arabica: Nov–Jan; Robusta: Dec–Feb 16
Peru Arabica: Apr–Sep, Jun–Jul (peak) 8
Central African Republic Robusta: Nov–Jan (ICO; FAO differs, see Contested) 9
Honduras All coffee: Oct–Mar 14
Guatemala All coffee: Nov–Mar 13
Mexico All coffee: Nov–Apr 19
Laos Arabica: Oct–Dec; Robusta: Dec–Feb 17
Guinea Robusta: Dec–Mar 18
Tanzania All coffee (2025): Jul–Oct; Arabica (FAO): Oct–Dec; Robusta (FAO): Jun–Dec 20,18
Côte d’Ivoire Robusta: Oct–Mar 18
DR Congo Robusta: May–Jul; Arabica: Nov–Jan, May–Sep 18
Philippines All coffee: Oct–Mar (one industry source; no official calendar found) 21
Costa Rica Arabica: Aug–Oct (some areas), Nov–Feb, Mar–May (some areas) 6
Papua New Guinea All coffee: May–Jul (main); enough cherry ripens Mar–Oct for additional picking 10
Madagascar Mostly robusta: May–Oct 18
Kenya Arabica: Apr–Jun, Oct–Dec (ICO; USDA and FAO differ, see Contested) 4
Cameroon Robusta: Nov–Feb; Arabica: Sep–Feb 18
El Salvador All coffee: Oct–Jan 23
Yemen Arabica: Oct–Dec 24
Nicaragua All coffee: Nov–Feb 25
Rwanda Arabica: Feb (some areas), Mar–Jun, Jul–Aug (some areas) 15,18
Burundi Arabica: Apr–Jul 18

Months as stated in each source; where sources disagree, see Contested. Months shift from year to year with the weather; the sources are country summaries, not forecasts.

How old the sources are#

The calendar uses the most recent official statement we could find for each country. For most of the large producers this is a USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Coffee Annual from 2023–2025.1,2,5,8,16 For several African origins the most recent official country-wide calendar we found is the FAO country profile of 2000, built on 1999 data.18 The tool shows the year of every source with each country; these older rows should be read as the traditional season, not a current measurement.

China and Venezuela are not yet in the calendar: we found no official source that states their harvest months.

Key studies#

USDA FAS – Coffee Annual reports. Yearly reports from US agricultural attachés in the main producing countries, covering production, trade and stocks; many describe when the harvest starts, peaks and ends, and how weather shifted it.

USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GAIN · fas.usda.gov

Mutua, 2000 – Post-harvest handling of coffee in African countries. An FAO report with short profiles of African coffee producers, giving for each country the species grown, the harvest months, the usual preparation and production and exports in 1999.

FAO · fao.org

Contested
  • Kenya: the ICO country profile gives two harvests, April–June and October–December4; USDA (2017) calls September–December the early or fly crop and March–July the main crop22; FAO (2000) gives a main harvest in October–December and a secondary one in June and August.18
  • Tanzania: USDA (2025) gives July–October for the whole country20; FAO (2000) gives arabica October–December and robusta June–December.18
  • Central African Republic: ICO (2008) gives picking from November to January9; FAO (2000) gives November to February.18
  • Rwanda: NAEB describes one crop starting in late February or early March, with some northern areas picking until August15; FAO (2000) gives March–June.18
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Sources

  1. A(2025). Brazil: Coffee Annual (BR2025-0013). USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GAIN report.
  2. A(2025). Colombia: Coffee Annual (CO2025-0014). USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GAIN report.
  3. A(2017). Vietnam: Coffee Annual (VM7024). USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GAIN report.
  4. A(2019). Country Coffee Profile: Kenya (ICC-124-7). International Coffee Organization.
  5. A(2025). Indonesia: Coffee Annual (ID2025-0021). USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GAIN report.
  6. A(2025). Costa Rica: Coffee Annual (CS2025-0010). USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GAIN report.
  7. A(2026). FAOSTAT: Crops and livestock products (item “Coffee, green”, element “Production”, 2024). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), licence CC BY 4.0.
  8. A(2025). Peru: Coffee Annual (PE2025-0018). USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GAIN report.
  9. A(2008). Communication from the Central African Republic (ICC-100-7). International Coffee Organization.
  10. ACurry, G.; Tilden, G.; Aroga, L. (2025). Smallholder coffee production in Papua New Guinea, farmer training guide, Unit 3 Module 1: Coffee harvesting and processing (ACIAR Monograph 220). Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.
  11. A(2014). Uganda: Coffee Annual (2014). USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GAIN report.
  12. A(2019). Country Coffee Profile: Uganda (ICC-124-8). International Coffee Organization.
  13. A(2025). Época de cosecha del café. Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Alimentación (MAGA), Guatemala.
  14. A(2022). Informe Estadístico 2020–2021. Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE).
  15. AAbout Rwanda coffee. National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB), Rwanda.
  16. A(2023). India: Coffee Annual 2023 (IN2023-0033). USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GAIN report.
  17. AWinston, E.; Op de Laak, J.; Marsh, T.; Lempke, H.; Chapman, K. (2005). Arabica coffee manual for Lao-PDR. FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
  18. AMutua, J. (2000). Post Harvest Handling and Processing of Coffee in African Countries, Annex 4: Africa Coffee Producing Countries Profiles. FAO (AGSI).
  19. A(2022). Mexico: Coffee Annual (MX2022-0031). USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GAIN report.
  20. A(2025). Tanzania: Coffee Annual (TZ2025-0004). USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GAIN report.
  21. BPhilippine Coffee. Philippine Coffee Board.
  22. A(2017). Kenya: Coffee Annual (2017). USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GAIN report.
  23. A(2013). Evaluación rápida sobre el efecto de la roya del café en poblaciones vulnerables dependientes del sector en El Salvador. World Food Programme (WFP), El Salvador.
  24. AKhan, K.; Al-Kirshi, A. G. (2022). Value chain analysis of qat and coffee in Yemen. UNDP Yemen.
  25. A(2018). Nicaragua: Coffee Annual (2018). USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GAIN report.

Tier A · authoritative · B · trade and expert · C · general. Supporting quotes for every source are in the data version of this entry. If a publisher’s site refuses access, try the doi link or “other copies”.

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