Quality and diversity are two closely linked elements of Colombian coffee. This country, which exclusively produces mild Arabica coffee, has many types of soil, terrain and climates provided by the three Andean mountain ranges that cut across the country from south to north, enabling Colombia to offer coffee connoisseurs a very diverse range of sensory profiles.

Coffee growing in Colombia covers all of the country’s mountainous areas, at different altitudes, that range from approximately 1,100 meters in the north of the country to up to 2,300 meters in the highest areas in the south. This is a high altitude crop, frequently grown on very steep slopes, by over 500,000 farmers whose plantations added up to 914,000 hectares at the end of 2010. Farming on plots which barely average 1.6 hectares each makes growing coffee in Colombia a predominantly family business that, after many decades, has enabled the consolidation of a coffee culture linked to traditional and manual processes that maximize crop…

 The harvest seasons are related to the seasonality in which the coffee trees blossom in the Tropic. In the case of Arabica coffee, the harvest occurs between 210 and 224 days after the trees have bloomed. The blossoms are induced when the trees have faced the absence of rain for a few weeks.
This is known by professionals as hydric stress and when it is followed by sustained rainfall the trees’ hormones react in such a way that the buds flower. In this way, tropical or subtropical countries that have dry and wet periods (dry and rainy seasons) during the year, tend to have concentrated flowering seasons and, consequently, their harvest is concentrated 8 months after the blossom takes place.

When blossoms are concentrated it usually leads to the concentration of the harvest season in a short span, which favors harvesting practices by permitting the use of semi-sophisticated equipment to perform the task of collecting the coffee cherries.

However, the equipment used to…

Cooperatives for coffee producers in Colombia
 
One of the most important issues discussed around coffee commercialization is what percentage of the market price is actually translated to the grower. The gap between buying and selling price can be as high as 22% according to the International coffee Organization  An average coffee farmer in Colombia may produce say 20 bags of 60 kilos (1,200 kg) of green coffee per year. Of course, having fresh coffee all year round implies that all thees bags are not produced at the same time. In fact, the average transaction made in a Colombian coffee cooperative is of 180 kg of parchment coffee (equivalent to around 135kg of green coffee).

Since coffee growers grow their coffee in their farms, not in local towns, they have to pay for transportation to bring the coffee they wish to sell from their farm to the market. Given the size of the actual transaction, this costs can be a substantial share of…

Rust Control, Quality and Sustainability
Huver Posada - PhD

Various articles shared in this site, written and reviewed by FNC’s scientists, have illustrated a number of topics related to new variety development. We now know, thanks to modern techniques, the origin of the Coffea arabica species, the reduced genetic variability of commercially produced Arabica varieties, and the fact that quality is a trait that derives from the interaction of a given plant (i.e. its genetic composition) the environment where it grows, and the practices (harvesting and post harvesting) applied to such trees.
As we have explained in previous articles, the development of the Castillo variety was by no means a simple process. First, this is a composed variety (that is, a mixture of seeds collected from different lines at F5 generation lines), with particular lines that adapt to different regional environments within Colombia. Second, it is obtained from a cross between the Caturra variety and the Timor Hybrid, and using the line…

Castillo is a crossed variety which is obtained from a mixture of seeds of two different breeding lines. It's characterized for its genes which make it resistant to leaf rust. Developed by Cenicafé in 2005, the variety is named Castillo as a tribute to Cenicafé researcher, Jaime Castillo Zapata (1928- 2001), a dedicated breeder of coffee. Take a look at this infographic.

In Colombia, we consider the postharvest process as one of the most important steps of the coffee production. We use to remove the mucilage to give our coffee a clean flavor and to get to taste different profiles when we drink it. Watch the video and learn the process step by step.

Cenicafé has been working with integrated pest and coffee diseases management through an ecologically-oriented methodology, using cultural, biological and chemical control techniques focusing on the quality of the bean.

¿Did you ever think about the time it takes to grow the beans you are using to make that cup of coffee?

The Cafe de Colombia Denomination of Origin represents and proves the connection between coffee quality, tradition and the territory where it is produced. Consequently, clients and consumers know that these characteristics they are paying a higher proce for are guaranteed.

In order to determine the quality and cup profile for coffee, certain steps must be made when cupping. This is how coffee is cupped for quality in Colombia.

Colombian coffee is carefully grown and processed over 20 departments between different altitudes to obtain an outstanding quality in cup with a distinguished flavor and aroma.

The varierty of altitudes and unique soils favor the growth of high quality crops. Learn more about location, altitud and geographic conditions of Colombian Coffee Regions in this infographic.