COLOMBIAN COFFEE

The first information on record about coffee production in Colombia dates back to the early 1700s. Legend has it that the first coffee seeds arrived in South America thanks to French and Dutch travellers who introduced the drink to their colonies and its influence later spread to Colombia thanks to Jesuit Priests who brought the seeds from Venezuela. However, it wasn't until the early 18th century that the first commercial coffee plantation were formed. It is believed that there were originally based in Santander and Boyaca. 

Coffee wasn't widely grown until Colombia managed to separate from Spain. At this time coffee prices were much healthier then they are today! Accordingly to various records books that are still available today Colombia coffee production managed to increase from 1,000 bags per year in 1850 to 100,000 bags a year in 1880. Of course, this shows just how much the drink managed to catch on in a little over 30 years. A testament to the fine soils of Colombia.

Colombia then went on to expand production even further and by the 1900s it was producing in excess of 600,000 bags a year, and only 20 years later at the end of the second world war production had increased to over 3,000,000.00 (3 million) bags a year.  

With the expansion of the coffee industry great wealth and prosperity was brought to Colombia. Colombia itself became a powerhouse of international scale with its coffee exports comprising around 10 percent of the total worlds production. 

CREATION OF THE FNC
Around this time a group of farmers from the Medellin area formed a federation known as the Federation Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia (FNC). The goal of the FNC was to improve the prices that the farmers received for their coffee, and to work together as a unit to improve the global image of the coffee grown in Colombia. The idea is brilliant - people pay more for better quality! Interesting, their advertising campaign still runs today. 

The FNC guarantees the purchase of green coffee beans from farmers (but the farmers do not have to sell to them) which means they can also sell directly to independent buyers. What this means is that farmers know they can sell their coffee for a certain price to the FNC, and allows them to get more then that if they can reach a separate agreement with a private buyer. 

Colombia got a great price for its coffee back then, and that's still the case now. You might be interested to know that it manages to get up to six times more for its coffee then similar coffee farmers in Brazil, El Salvador and Mexico. A real testament to the FNC. 

PROBLEMS IN COLOMBIA
However, Colombia is not without its problems, and is well known for being full of unrest - much of which is brought through the drugs trade. This at one point nearly broke the Country but things seem to have died down a little bit now. Despite this drugs and gangs remain a real problem for the economy of the Country. 

On top of this it is well known in the trade that Colombia suffers from Leafrust (Roya) which is a disease that effects coffee plants, and spreads in the air. It attacks the leaves of the coffee plants - leaving the plant exposed, and often causing the coffee plant to die. It's very hard to stop and significantly reduces the yield of a coffee crop - meaning the farmers earn less money. It is thought that climate change has at least something to do with this, with increasing rainfall helping the fungus spread.

COLOMBIA TODAY
All of this means that Colombia's coffee production is now in decline. It's still a coffee powerhouse - it's just producing less and less each year. In the peak it managed to produce 16,000,000.00 (16 million) sacks of coffee which is now just a little over 7,000,000.00 (7 million) sacks of coffee today. 

Coffee production in Colombia is separated into 4 very different regions which manage to create very different tasting coffees. For example, Huila and Narino are well known for producing huge sweet coffees with thick milk chocolate and caramel tones, whilst Tolima and to a lesser extent Cauca are known for producing coffees with floral notes and bright acidity. 

These areas are split around the spine of the gorgeous Andes Mountain ranges which carries thought into Peru and Bolivia. This is a gorgeous part of the world and the home of some of our favourite coffees such as our single origin Bolivian, Peruvian and not forgetting Colombian coffee beans. 

Today coffee represents only 10 percent of Colombia's exports - however, it remains crucial to the economy of Colombia and typically speaking a bad coffee harvest means a bad time for the Colombian economy. Much of it's production, even today, remains in the hands of community farmers who have small land holdings - it's well looked after and that's why it's so well known for producing great coffee.