EU Market Research - Guinea Coffee

Guinea produces 0.1 percent of the world’s coffee production and is considered the 34th coffee producing country in the world. Guinea cultivates mainly Robusta coffee and to a small extent Arabica. Guinean coffee is not well known or established on the EU and international coffee market due to its perceived low standard of bean quality.

Available data on coffee production over the past 5 years show a declining trend in production volumes for Guinea coffee. Almost all Guinea coffee produced goes to export and its important EU export market destinations during 2014 to 2018 (by aggregate volume) are: the Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy and Belgium. S ince 2017, the sector experienced a sharp decline in export to the world and has remained with this trend. Similarly, EU coffee import (volumes) from Guinea has been in decline during 2015 and 2019. Experts do not see much changes on the short term for Guinean coffee prospects in European market, however they note that with external support and consistent government attention, the prospects could possibly improve. The EU demand for Guinea coffee is almost non-existent and there are a number of key challenges and CSR risks in the sector.

Nevertheless, the untapped export potential for Guinea coffee to the EU and the world is still significant. There are promising coffee producers of Guinean robusta or arabica, like Café Ziama Macenta, Macenta Beans (though based in Germany), Café Foutah, Café Mont Nimba which show good prospects for the sector. The GI label obtained by Café Ziama Macenta, appears to have increased coffee farmer income and the label could potentially be a USP for marketing Guinea’s coffee in EU niche and specialty market segment. A handful of EU (specialty) coffee buyers that have experience with Guinea coffee gave good reviews about the coffee bean quality and taste. Below are a few key recommendations (and a list of advice from EU actors interviewed) for CBI to consider when supporting Guinea coffee export to the EU market.