Growing coffee in Colombia
What is Colombian coffee like?
Colombia grows only arabica coffee, about 13 million 60 kg bags a year, which makes it the world's third-largest producer after Brazil and Vietnam. It has a reputation for mild, well-balanced coffee. Most of it comes from small family farms in the Andes, with a main harvest from October to December and a second, the mitaca, from April to June.
At a glance
2026- Production
- 13.4m bags
- 2026/27 forecast, 60 kg bags
- World rank
- No. 3
- 7.1% of world output
- Species
- Arabica only
- Harvest
- Main crop Oct–Dec; mitaca Apr–Jun
- Area under coffee
- 800,000 ha planted, 640,000 ha harvested
- Growers
- More than 550,000 producers
- Exports
- 12.8m bags (2025/26 estimate); the US takes over 40%
- Price paid to farmers
- COP 2,174,143 per 125 kg (February 2026)
- Value of the harvest
- COP 19 trillion, March 2024 to February 2025 (FNC)
- Main varieties
- Rust-resistant varieties on 87% of the coffee area, Castillo 2.0, Castalia, Celestra and Cocoon (newer Cenicafé varieties)
- Typical cup
- A reputation for mild, well-balanced coffee.
- Protected name
- Café de Colombia, a denomination of origin also protected in the EU since 2007
Production: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Coffee: World Markets and Trade (July 2026). Other figures describe 2026 and come from the sources at the end of this page. Updated once a year.
Growing regions
All origins- Antioquia1,300–2,200 mCoffee from Antioquia, Colombia’s second-biggest producer and birthplace of the coffee growers’ federation: the cup, harvests, figures and history.
- BoyacáAbout 1,100–2,000 mCoffee from Boyacá, Colombia: small, shade-grown farms on both sides of the Eastern range, a honeyed, balanced cup, and coffee recorded since 1787.
- CaldasAbout 1,200–1,800 mCoffee from Caldas, Colombia: the coffee axis’s most productive farms, home of the Cenicafé research centre, and a region losing land to avocados.
- CaucaUp to 1,700 m, or 1,700–2,100 m (sources differ)Coffee from Cauca, Colombia: high in the Colombian Massif, sheltered by volcanoes, with bright acidity and a protected origin since 2011. Cup, figures, facts.
- CundinamarcaAbout 1,100–1,900 mCoffee from Cundinamarca, Colombia: shade-grown coffee on the slopes around Bogotá, two harvests that change from north to south, and a spiced, fruity cup.
- Huila1,000–2,200 mCoffee from Huila, Colombia’s biggest producer: nearly a fifth of the national crop, a protected origin since 2013, and a fruity, caramel cup.
- NariñoUp to 2,300 mCoffee from Nariño, Colombia: grown up to 2,300 m near the equator on volcanic soils, by tiny family farms. A protected origin since 2011. Cup and facts.
- Norte de SantanderMostly 1,300–1,900 m (64%); a third below 1,300 mCoffee from Norte de Santander, Colombia: where the first exports left, a harvest almost all year, and a bitter-chocolate cup. History, figures and facts.
- Quindío1,400–2,000 mCoffee from Quindío, the heart of Colombia’s coffee axis: the cup, altitude, harvests, a shrinking coffee area, the UNESCO landscape and the 2026 earthquake.
- RisaraldaAbout 1,100–1,900 mCoffee from Risaralda, Colombia: the coffee axis around Pereira, a fruity, floral cup, a September–December harvest, and the 2026 earthquake.
- SantanderCoffee from Santander, Colombia: shade-grown on small farms, with its own denomination of origin since 2014. The cup, the figures and the history.
- Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta500–1,900 mCoffee from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia: grown under full shade on the world’s highest coastal mountains, with one harvest a year.
- Tolima1,200–1,900 mCoffee from Tolima, Colombia: two harvests a year, a protected origin since 2017, and Planadas, home of Cup of Excellence winners. Cup, figures and facts.
- Valle del CaucaAbout 1,100–2,000 mCoffee from Valle del Cauca, Colombia: caramel and red fruit in the cup, about 23,500 coffee families, and over half its coffee land certified sustainable.
Colombia is the world’s great arabica country after Brazil. It grows nothing else: about 13 million 60 kg bags a year, most of it from small family farms in the mountains. It has a reputation for mild, well-balanced coffee, and a coffee culture old enough for UNESCO to list part of its landscape as World Heritage. Here’s how much it grows, when, where, what farmers are paid, and how coffee got there.
The short version
- All arabica, about 13 million bags a year.
- Third in the world by volume, after Brazil and Vietnam.
- Two harvests: the main crop in October to December, the mitaca in April to June.
- Small farms: more than 550,000 producers; about 60% of the crop comes from plots under 5 hectares.
- Mild and balanced by reputation.
How much coffee does Colombia grow?
USDA’s figures, in 60 kg bags:
| Coffee year (October to September) | Production | Exports |
|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 14.8 million | 13.4 million |
| 2025/26 (estimate) | 12.5 million | 12.8 million |
| 2026/27 (forecast) | 13.4 million | 13.4 million |
USDA blames the 2025/26 drop on excessive rain, which stopped the trees flowering properly: coffee needs a spell of moderate water stress to flower. Colombia even imported about 2.4 million bags that year, mostly lower-quality coffee from Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, to meet its soluble-coffee export commitments.
Figures for the same crop differ depending on who counts and over which months:
| Claim | Source |
|---|---|
| 14.8 million bags in the 2024/25 coffee year (October to September) | USDA |
| 14.79 million bags from March 2024 to February 2025, the most since 1996 | The National Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC), reported by El Colombiano |
| An average of 11.5 million bags a year | Wikipedia |
| The largest producer of arabica | Wikipedia; USDA’s figures put Brazil first |
When is coffee harvested in Colombia?
In much of Colombia the trees crop twice a year. USDA describes a main harvest from October to December and a smaller second crop, the mitaca, from April to June, concentrated in the central coffee region. Parts of the country harvest all year round. Picking is the biggest single cost of growing coffee in Colombia: the FNC’s breakdown, published by USDA, puts it at 52.1% of production costs, and labour overall at about 69%.
Where does Colombian coffee grow?
All along the Andes, and beyond. The FNC’s coffee information system counted coffee in 23 departments in 2024. The best known is the Eje Cafetero, the coffee axis or coffee triangle: Caldas, Quindío and Risaralda, plus parts of Tolima, Valle del Cauca and Antioquia. In 2011, UNESCO listed its Coffee Cultural Landscape, eighteen urban settlements across six sites, as a World Heritage Site. But the biggest producers today are further south: Huila, Antioquia, Tolima and Cauca have the most coffee land.
The main coffee departments, with the FNC’s official cup profiles:
| Department | Coffee area, 2024 | Flavour | Acidity | Protected origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huila | 145,759 ha | Fruity, with caramel | Medium-high, citric | 2013 |
| Antioquia | 114,312 ha | Fruity, herbal | Medium, malic | |
| Tolima | 106,852 ha | Sweet, fruity | Medium-high, citric | 2017 |
| Cauca | 94,442 ha | Sweet, floral, fruity | High, citric | 2011 |
| Caldas | 59,052 ha | Sweet, fruity | Medium, tartaric | |
| Santander | 54,320 ha | Sweet, herbal, fruity | Medium, citric | 2014 |
| Valle del Cauca | 51,600 ha | Caramel, red fruit | Medium, citric | |
| Risaralda | 43,181 ha | Fruity, floral | Medium, tartaric | |
| Nariño | 35,627 ha | Sweet, fruity, floral | Medium, citric | 2011 |
| Cundinamarca | 29,129 ha | Sweet, fruity | Medium, citric | |
| Cesar | 23,561 ha | Fruity, winey | Medium-high, tartaric | 2017 (Sierra Nevada) |
| Norte de Santander | 23,400 ha | Bitter chocolate | Medium, citric | |
| Quindío | 18,401 ha | Fruity, bitter chocolate | Medium, citric | |
| Magdalena | 17,522 ha | Bitter chocolate | Medium, citric | 2017 (Sierra Nevada) |
| Boyacá | 11,073 ha | Sweet, fruity | Medium, citric |
Sources: area, FNC coffee information system (SICA) via Agronegocios; flavour and acidity, FNC regional profiles; protected origins, FNC (the year the SIC granted each regional denomination of origin). Smaller amounts grow in Caquetá, La Guajira, Meta, Casanare, Bolívar, Putumayo, Chocó and Arauca.
Who grows Colombian coffee?
Small farmers, mostly. USDA counts more than 550,000 producers and says about 60% of the crop comes from farms of less than 5 hectares. Most belong to the National Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC, or Fedecafé), founded in 1927, which runs research, extension and marketing under an agreement with the government, funded by a levy of US$0.06 a pound on coffee. Its research centre, Cenicafé, dates from 1938.
Cenicafé’s work shows in the fields. USDA reports that 87% of Colombia’s coffee area is now planted with rust-resistant varieties, up from 35% in 2010, and that new ones such as Castalia, Celestra and Cocoon, alongside Castillo 2.0, are bred for both cup quality and disease resistance.
How much are Colombian coffee farmers paid?
The domestic price tracks the New York market and the peso. In February 2026, USDA reports, it stood at COP 2,174,143 per 125 kg load, 30% lower than a year earlier. The FNC put the value of the harvest at COP 19 trillion for March 2024 to February 2025, 83% more than the year before, El Colombiano reported. USDA notes that low prices have a silver lining: farmers are more willing to cut back and replant old trees when there’s less to lose from a smaller crop.
How did coffee come to Colombia?
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1730 | The Jesuit priest José Gumilla records coffee at a mission near where the Meta river joins the Orinoco | Wikipedia |
| 1787 | The archbishop-viceroy Caballero y Góngora reports coffee near Girón, in Santander, and Muzo | Wikipedia |
| 1808 or 1835 | The first commercial exports, from the north-east (the sources disagree; see below) | Wikipedia; Norte de Santander growers’ committee |
| 1913 | Exports reach a million bags a year | Wikipedia |
| 1927 | The National Federation of Coffee Growers is founded | Wikipedia; USDA |
| 1938 | Cenicafé, the coffee research centre, opens | Wikipedia |
| 2007 | The European Union protects the name Café de Colombia | Wikipedia |
| 2011 | UNESCO lists the Coffee Cultural Landscape | Wikipedia |
When did Colombia first export coffee? The sources disagree:
| Claim | Source |
|---|---|
| 1808: 100 bags of green coffee exported from the port of Cúcuta | Wikipedia (English) |
| 1835: 2,592 bags sent from Salazar de las Palmas, across Lake Maracaibo to Venezuela | The Norte de Santander coffee growers’ committee, quoted by Perfect Daily Grind |
| Commercial growing began in 1835, in Durania and Salazar de las Palmas | Wikipedia (Spanish) |
Wikipedia credits a priest, Francisco Romero, with spreading the crop in the north-east: he is said to have set his parishioners in Salazar de las Palmas the penance of planting coffee. Santander’s newspaper Vanguardia still tells the story.
How did the 2026 earthquake and El Niño affect Colombian coffee?
On 10 August 2026, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia, with its epicentre at San José del Palmar, in Chocó, and hard-hit Pereira and Manizales in the coffee axis, Agrolatam reported. The FNC contacted 10,460 growers in six departments (Valle del Cauca, Risaralda, Caldas, Quindío, Antioquia and Chocó) and found 8,070 with damaged homes and 4,713 damaged wet mills, where farms turn cherries into dry green coffee, Agronegocios reported. Then El Niño brought heat and drought, which El Tiempo reports raised coffee berry borer damage in Caldas, Quindío and Risaralda just as the end-of-year harvest was being picked. USDA had expected El Niño years to be kinder to Colombian coffee than La Niña’s heavy rains, so the full effect on the 2026/27 crop is still to be seen.
How do Colombians drink their coffee?
Mostly as tinto, a small black coffee, traditionally boiled with water and often sweetened with panela. For a producer, Colombians drink surprisingly little: USDA estimates 3.08 kg a person a year, and says most households buy soluble coffee and low-cost mixes rather than specialty beans. In 2025, Law 2504 declared coffee Colombia’s national drink.
Colombian coffee and other origins
- Where coffee grows: every producing country, ranked.
- The atlas: Colombia’s regions, methods and growing area on the map.