Through our bank Bancentro and other companies in LAFISE Group., we finance, insurance, and provide bonded warehousing to over 200.000 bags (45 Kg) of coffee produced at altitudes between 800 and 1500 meters. Our group Manages more than 15% of the coffee production of Nicaragua.
Nicaraguan Arabica coffee is considered a "classic" cup: great body and balance, clean flavor, and a medium to high acidity. They are unique among other Central American coffees, in the fact that the highest grow SHG do not develop the pronounced and sharp acidity of other Centrals American coffees, making it a great bean for blends.

With the global coffee crisis due mainly to the over supply of cheap Robusta Vietnamese coffee, Nicaragua`s whole sale prices of Arabica beans, have dropped from $3 a pound in 1996 to $0.70 a pound presently. This price erosion has resulted in loss of employment for approximately 300.000 Nicaraguans (5% of the total population) as well as the threat of property foreclosure for many small-scale producers, who account for 65% of the coffee production in Nicaragua. Due to this plunge in prices Arabica coffee beans, around the world, and especially Nicaragua, many banks in the country have turned away coffee producers seeking credit. Compounding the problem is the lack of support from the govenrment. It has turned away coffee producers and workers repeatedly when they have marched over 100 kilometers to the capital searching for food, medicines, and founds during these times of crisis.

In a time when credit and support from local banks is extremely limited, Bancentro has been a pioneer in supporting and welcoming these coffee producers by financing their production at very favorable interest rates and terms. Today we finance aver 150 coffee producers and farms in the region of Matagalpa and Jinotega. Aside from giving producers financing, we provide them with insurance, and bonded warehousing once the coffee is ready to export. Through our trading office in Miami, Florida we market and commercialize our producer´s coffee directly to roasters all over the world enabling the producers to receive a better price eliminating middlemen in the supply chain.

These beans are cultivated in the heart of Nicaragua`s Northem Valley of Jinotega and Matagalpa, where it`s carefully harvested, selecting only scarlet ripe cherries. Coffee is cultivated between 17 and 23 degrees Celsius, giving it the optimal temperature. Then, our coffe is meticulously processed and sun dried on stretchers, to bring out the brightness and excellence in the cup. The majority of the coffees we finance compete in the annual Cup of Excellence competition where an international juror of 25 coffee tasting experts identified the best cup coffee in the country. From a competition of over 250 different lots, the winner was able to sell their coffee at approximately $13.00/lb.

LAFISE Group has been a driving force in the economic development of Central America and the Caribbean for more than 18 years. We are a regional financial leader with 10 offices throughout Central America and Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and the United States. We offer our clients dynamic, marketing services including, banking, stock exchange, insurance, customs warehouses, agricultural exchange, and trading offices.