Colombian Coffee Growers Set Specialty Coffee Export Record

The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) has already sold 1.2 million bags of specialty coffee for shipment in 2013; the previous record was 1.03 million bags in 2011.

The FNC’s exports of specialty coffees result in higher-quality premiums for farmers. As of September 2013, there were 162,873 coffee growers producing coffee under a sustainability protocol, or about 29 percent of total domestic producers.

Premiums paid for specialty coffees to producers continue to increase, totaling $149 million since the launch of the FNC’s value-added strategy.

The FNC set a new Colombian coffee industry record by exporting more than 1 million 60-kilogram bags of specialty green coffee between January and the second week of October.

The announcement was made by Luis G. Muñoz, FNC’s CEO, during the opening ceremony of the ExpoEspeciales 2013, an event that brings together national and international representatives of the international and domestic specialty coffee industry.

According to the FNC, this is the first time more than a million bags of specialty coffee have been exported in a period of less than 10 months. This does not include specialty coffee sales in the growing domestic market to domestic roasters.

This important achievement is the result of a value-added strategy and differentiation led by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation, which allows an increased value share for specialty coffee producers in the segment. 

The FNC’s 2013 specialty sales are almost six times higher than what the organization exported in 2002 when it launched its new policy on specialty coffees. The FNC defines specialty coffees as those with characteristics that differentiate them from other coffees, for which clients and consumers are willing to pay a premium.