Origin Profile: Colombian Coffee

Colombian coffee has always been a staple for its consistent quality. Mild acidity and sweetness of the coffee produced in the central regions is perfect for House and Breakfast Blends. More recently, the coffees of southern Colombia have become more accessible. These coffees desired for their complexity and exceptional cup quality. Learn all about Colombian coffee in our Colombia origin profile below!

An Overview of Colombian Coffee

Harvest: Varies by region

Arrival: January – December

Number of Producers: ~ 540,000

Average Farm Size: <2 hectares

Annual Production: 14.8 million 60-kilo bags

Common Varieties: Castillo, Catimor, Catuai, Caturra, Typica, Bourbon

Maximum Elevation: 5,750m or ~19,000ft

Notable Growing Regions: Huila, Narino, Antioquia, Cauca, Sierra Nevada

Colombia Geography

Colombia is in the Northwest corner of South America. It is the only country on this continent with coastlines on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean. The Andes Mountains run Northeast from Narino to Norte de Santander. The Andes splits into three distinct chains or cordilleras: Occidental, Central, and Oriental or Western, Central and Eastern.

A majority of Colombia’s population lives on the slopes and in the valleys of the mountains. The lower elevation region in the east is more sparsely populated. Between the central cordillera and the oriental flows the Magdalena River. The Magdalena River basin and that of its tributary, the Cauca, cover a vast area – over 100,000 sq. miles. About two-thirds of Colombians live here. Historically, its gentler flow makes it the ideal mode of transporting goods to the Caribbean.

The Occidental Cordillera is the lowest of the Colombian Andes. The highest peak is 4,100masl. This chain begins in Narino and runs through Cauca, Risaralda, Choco, Caldas, Antioquia, and Cordoba. To the east is the Cauca Valley, which forms a deep rift between the Western and Central Cordilleras. The Central Cordillera is the highest in the Andes, with Nevada Huila reaching 5,750 masl. This chain runs through Narino, Cauca, Huila, Tolima, Risaraldo, Caldas, and Santander departments. The Oriental Cordillera is the widest and peaks at Nevada Cocuy at 5,493masl. It passes through the regions of Putumayo, Huila, Tolima, and Boyaca.

Colombian Coffee Climate

Given Colombia’s equatorial location, the seasons have relatively little effect on temperatures. Elevation distinguishes the different temperate zones.

The Temperate Zones

Tierra Caliente represents the lowest elevations below 900masl. This zone comprises most of the countries area, about 85%. In this area, tropical fruit like banana, pineapple or sugarcane is grown.

Tierra Templada, the temperate zone, is 900-2000masl or and covers just less than about 10% of the country. This zone includes the lower slopes of the cordilleras and the cities of Medellin and Cali.

Tierra Fria is 2000-3000masl and covers about 5% of the country.

The Paramos represents <1% of the countries area is the highest elevation zone encompassing the mountain peaks. As seasonal winds shift and ascend over the mountains, the air cools and condenses producing fog and rain. Farmers in the mountains can experience two wet seasons and two dry seasons per year with April – May and July – September being the wet seasons.

Colombian Coffee Growing Regions

The departments of Quindío, Risaralda, and Caldas have historically been the largest producers of coffee in Colombia. Known as the “Coffee Triangle”, coffee from these regions tend to be mild and sweet.

More recently, the departments of Huila, Narino, Tolima, Antioquia and Cauca have become more established. The high-mountain farms in these regions produce some of the best coffees in the world due to their high elevation and volcanic soil. Specialty coffee producers in this region produce many microlots, as well as high quality macrolots. These coffees offer vibrant fruit notes, high sweetness and florality.

The northern departments of Santander or Boyaca tend to be lower altitude and higher temperature zones that produce less complex coffees. The coffees offer a classic breakfast blend profile. They are medium bodied with low acidity. The flavors are nutty, sweet, with subtle citrus notes.

The History of Colombian Coffee

Although the origin of coffee in Colombia is not completely certain, the most common story is that coffee arrived with Jesuit priests in the 1730s. It was not until 1835, that they logged the first coffee exports from the port of Cucuta.

Coffee experienced large speculative expansion in the second half of the 19th century. Large estates with access to international banking and credit in Santander and Cundimarca opened to profit off coffee’s relatively high international prices. The Thousand Days War and the international decline of coffee prices at the beginning of the next century proved that this style of coffee production was unsustainable for Colombia. The estates in Santander fell into financial crises and growth of estates in Antioquia and Caldas stalled.

Coffee remained a viable option for smaller farmers since it was a farming option that could be cultivated year-round. This was seen as a better option than the slash and burn farming of other crops.

Most of Colombian producers today operate on farms less than 2 hectares or 5 acres. Only 5% of Colombian Coffee is produced on estates bigger than 5 hectares or 12 acres.

Federación Nacional de Cafeteros

In order to compete more effectively, Colombian Farmers formed the Colombian Coffee Growers federation (FNC) in 1927. The FNC is one of the oldest and largest agricultural NGOs in the world. The FNC’s goal is to protect the interests of Colombian Farmers domestically and internationally through collective action, education, and research. In 1938 FNC created the National Coffee Research Center – Cenicafe.

Cenicafe was founded to study coffee farming. This includes production yields, harvesting and processing methods, and resulting quality in order to improve Colombian coffee. Today, Cenicafe is proving to be successful in producing new varieties of coffee that are more resistant to Coffee Leaf Rust which will make the Colombian coffee industry more robust.

Civil Unrest, Guerilla Warfare, and the Impact on Colombian Coffee

Coffee production in certain parts of Colombia has been difficult as a result of guerilla warfare in the later 20th century. In 1948, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, a prominent liberal land reform champion, was assassinated in Bogotá, sparking protests and violence because of decades old divisions between liberals and conservatives. Land disputes occurred between wealthy haciendas and the peasant class where some peasants tried to colonize land and form independent communities.

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, was formed by rebels in the Southwest region of Cauca who fled to the mountains after theirs was raided by government authorities. As FARC recruited more members and spread their area of control, the farmers in these areas did not have adequate support from governmental institutions. Unfortunately, rebel colonization was having a negative impact on their businesses. Coca farming offered a solution as it was relatively easy to grow in this region, producing high yields with little fertilizers. Cartels also operated more easily in areas under FARC control, and they paid taxes or bribes to the guerilla groups. Farmers who did not switch to Coca and did not work with Cartels were left on their own and in sometimes dangerous circumstances.

The Peace Deal

In 2016, FARC and the Colombian government reached a peace deal. This peace deal included weapons collection by the UN, electoral reforms, resettlement and matriculation programs, and land title reforms.

Parts of the agreement were meant to address the illicit drug trade that grew under FARC. They designed the programs to help end coca production through crop subsidies and increased support from the government. Farmers who removed coca from their farms received, on average, $12,000 over two years. The intent of this money was to assist farmers with planning and growing the new crops, most commonly coffee. The removal of coca, especially older bushes, was extremely labor intensive. In order to receive the subsidy, the process had to be completed in 60 days. Since coffee trees take a few years to mature and produce cherries, the switch to coffee was not an easy one for many of these farmers. Since they were left without income from their production for at least an entire year, the government subsidy was essential.

The Future of Colombian Coffee

Thankfully the program had success, especially in areas where private companies added additional support to farmers. Companies like Illy, Starbucks, McCafe, and others have signed long terms contracts with these farmers to incentivize the return to coffee farming and guarantee their income. At Royal NY, we too have been working with new producers from Nariño, Cauca, and other former FARC territories. Whenever possible, we feature these coffees as microlots and farmers receive a premium for their crop.

The peace with FARC will hopefully continue. The decrease in violence represents opportunity for growth of the Colombian coffee industry. There are areas that are now accessible to importers and other forms of external investment that were previously too dangerous to do business with. Supporting and developing these areas can help to further stabilize the region and increase the quality of the coffee that is being produced.

Varieties

The Typica variety is one of the oldest in central America and the world. It has very good cup quality potential, but is highly susceptible to leaf rust, and has low yields according to World Coffee Research.

The caturra variety is the most commonly planted in Colombia. It is a bourbon mutation that was first discovered in Minas Gerais in Brazil. The plant size is small with good yield potential and good cup quality. Caturra is still susceptible to coffee leaf rust.

The Colombia coffee cultivar became very popular after leaf rust devastated the harvest in 1983. Colombia is a Caturra-Timor hybrid. Further experimentation along the same lineage lead to the development of the Castillo cultivar. Castillo has good cup quality and is resistant to leaf rust.

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