Mexico Launches Coffee for Well-Being

The Mexican government has launched Café Bienestar (Coffee for Well-Being), a social program designed to support 6,646 small coffee producers, primarily from indigenous and socially marginalized communities in Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz, and Guerrero. The initiative, presented by President Claudia Sheinbaum and Maria Luisa Albores, Head, Food for Well-Being, seeks to strengthen local economies, promote sustainable agriculture, and expand access to quality coffee nationwide.

Albores announced that the government invested MX$59.4 million (US$3.1 million) in the program’s production, which involves 72 municipalities, 465 localities, 14 collection centers, and eight mobile collection points. The program sources coffee directly from small producers, including Mixe, Mixtec, Nahua, Otomi, Popoluca, Tlapaneco, and Totonaco communities, and has collected over 913Mt of coffee so far. She highlighted that the coffee is 100% Mexican coffee, free of additives, sweeteners, and artificial flavorings, using a natural blend of arabica and robusta varieties.

President Sheinbaum explained that the program promotes a fair-trade model and agroecological practices, ensuring profits go directly to local producers. “We want to reach 100% of the producers in La Montaña de Guerrero (The Mountain of Guerrero) because that will guarantee healthy coffee in Well-Being Stores, poverty reduction, and greater well-being for coffee-growing communities,” she said.

Coffee for Well-Being integrates with the government’s broader Sewing Life initiative, which supports agricultural producers. According to Sheinbaum, 40% of the coffee grown under Sewing Life is purchased by Food for Well-Being, providing farmers with stable income and allowing them to make a living from their crops.

The product is available through Well-Being Stores and is being distributed nationwide in four stages. The first phase includes Mexico City, State of Mexico, Michoacan, Morelos, Puebla, and Tlaxcala. The second covers Colima, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Queretaro, and Veracruz, while the third extends to Aguascalientes, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo Leon, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Yucatan, and Zacatecas. The fourth stage will reach the rest of the country.

Beyond supporting local economies, the program also promotes sustainable farming. Government data highlights that shade-grown coffee under Coffee for Well-Being resembles a forest and fosters biodiversity by sheltering significant flora and fauna. The initiative also contributes to food security; in Guerrero, 16,186.8ha received food assistance, while Puebla and Veracruz reported 7.1% and 4.2%, respectively, and Oaxaca reached 0.2%.

Women play a central role in the project, with 44% of participants being women overall and six out of 10 producers in La Montaña region identifying as women. According to Sheinbaum, this focus on inclusivity, coupled with direct purchases from small-scale farmers, strengthens rural economies and supports social development in some of Mexico’s most vulnerable regions.