Catuaí
A hybrid of Caturra and Mundo Novo developed in Brazil, combining Caturra's compact size with Mundo Novo's vigour. Widely grown across Central America and Brazil.
In short
Catuai is an arabica variety bred deliberately, by crossing two existing varieties to combine their best traits. Brazil's Instituto Agronômico made the cross in 1949, between yellow Caturra and Mundo Novo, and released the result in 1972.
It is compact like Caturra and productive like Mundo Novo. That combination made it one of the most widely planted varieties in Brazil and Central America.
A variety made on purpose
Sourced
Bourbon and Typica arose by history, and Caturra by chance mutation. Catuai was designed. Caturra offered small stature but only moderate yield; Mundo Novo offered vigour and yield but grew tall. Crossing them, and selecting among the offspring over many years, gave a compact plant whose yield potential the World Coffee Research catalogue rates as medium to very high.
The cross was first designated H-2077. The twenty-three years between the cross and the release reflect how slow coffee breeding is: each generation takes years to bear fruit and be assessed.
The reason it takes generations is uniformity. The first offspring of a cross vary widely, and a farmer needs every tree in a field to behave alike. Breeders therefore plant out the offspring, keep seed only from the plants that combine the wanted traits, and repeat until the line breeds true.
The plant in numbers and ratings
Sourced
| Variable | Typical range | What moving it does |
|---|---|---|
| Stature | Dwarf, compact | |
| Lineage | Mundo Novo crossed with Caturra | |
| Yield potential | Medium to very high | |
| Quality potential at high altitude | Good | |
| Planting density | 5,000–6,000 plants per hectare | |
| Nutrition requirement | High | |
| First production | Year 3 | |
| Coffee leaf rust | Susceptible | |
| Coffee berry disease | Susceptible |
As listed in the World Coffee Research catalogue.
How it took over Central America
Sourced
The catalogue records Catuai reaching Guatemala in 1970, Honduras in 1979, where it was released commercially in 1983, and Costa Rica in 1985. It notes that the plant's small stature allows dense planting and more efficient harvesting, and that this contributed to the intensification of full-sun cultivation in Central America in the 1970s and 1980s.
It remains a significant part of the region's crop. The catalogue puts Catuai at about a fifth of Guatemala's production.
Red Catuai and yellow Catuai
Widely documented
- Red Catuai
- Selections whose cherries ripen red. The more common of the two, and easier for pickers to judge for ripeness.
- Yellow Catuai
- Selections whose cherries ripen yellow, as the yellow Caturra parent's did. Ripeness is harder to judge by eye, which matters for quality at harvest.
Where it stands on quality
CoffeeHQ explanation
Catuai was bred for productivity, and the catalogue rates its cup potential as good, the same as Caturra and below Bourbon. In practice it produces a great deal of pleasant, dependable coffee and, on well-run farms at altitude, some that is excellent. It appears on plenty of competition-winning lots.
Its weakness is the one it shares with its parents: no resistance to leaf rust. Much of the replanting in Central America after rust outbreaks has moved away from it for that reason.
What to do next
- Mundo Novo — One parent, and the source of Catuai's vigour.
- Caturra — The other parent, and the source of its compact size.
- Coffee from Brazil — Where the variety was bred and is most widely grown.
- Become a coffee expert — A structured programme from the plant and its processing to roasting, water and tasting.
Where Catuaí is documented in the atlas
Only countries CoffeeHQ has written an entry for, and only where a document it has read names Catuaí there. This is not a list of everywhere it is grown.
- Brazil. Released in Brazil in 1972 as a cross of Mundo Novo with Caturra; counted with Mundo Novo in the same 2012 estimate. Source: Consórcio Pesquisa Café destaca as cultivares do IAC que mudaram a cafeicultura brasileira nos últimos 50 anos.
- Guatemala. Listed after Catimor and Caturra, on less than a tenth of farms. Source: Guatemala: Coffee Annual (GT2026-0003).
- Honduras. One of four arabica varieties the USDA attaché's 2025 report names as grown in the country's six main regions. Source: Honduras: Coffee Annual (HO2025-0002).
- Nicaragua. Listed among the other common varieties in the USDA attaché's 2026 report, which gives no share for it. Source: Nicaragua: Coffee Annual (NU2026-0003).
- Costa Rica. Introduced in 1985 and described by the catalogue as economically important in Costa Rica, where its descendants have spread widely. Source: Coffee Varieties Catalog: arabica and robusta entries, with the histories of each.
- Panama. Among the arabica varieties a 2026 chemistry paper sampled in Panama, with Caturra, Pacamara and Geisha. There is no census of varieties, only what studies happened to sample. Source: Phenolic Composition, Antioxidant Activity and Caffeine as Chemical Markers for Differentiating Panamanian Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora.
- United States (Hawaii and Puerto Rico). Named with Caturra among the varieties grown in both Hawaii and Puerto Rico by a 2023 review, which gives no share for either. Source: Establishing an integrated pest management program for coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) in Hawaii and Puerto Rico coffee agroecosystems: achievements and challenges.
- Thailand. Listed with Caturra and Catimor in the specifications of both protected northern names, Kafae Doi Chaang and Kafae Doi Tung. A specification says what may carry the name, not how much is planted. Source: Publication of an application pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012: single document, Kafae Doi Chaang (2014/C 49/08).
Parent varieties
Learn it as a course
The Coffee Expert lesson Species and varieties covers this ground in order, with exercises you can do at home.