Risaralda

Risaralda, the department around Pereira in western Colombia, is one of the three heartland departments of the Eje Cafetero, the coffee axis, with Caldas and Quindío. It was born from coffee: growers helped campaign for the department, created in 1966, and its coffee growers’ committee followed in 1967. Its coffee grows at about 1,100–1,900 metres and is picked mainly from September to December. In 2026 it was hit hard by the 10 August earthquake.

The short version

• Fruity and floral in the cup, with medium tartaric acidity.
• About 1,100–1,900 m.
• Main harvest September–December, mitaca March–May.
• About 45,000 hectares and 19,500 coffee families.
• Part of UNESCO’s Coffee Cultural Landscape.

What does Risaralda coffee taste like?

The FNC’s official regional profile describes a sweet, fruity aroma, fruity and floral flavours, medium, tartaric acidity and a medium, creamy body. The FNC’s coffee atlas, written with the national research centre Cenicafé, calls it a coffee of strong, clear and clean sensations, sometimes with a refreshing aftertaste. The departmental committee’s programme “Risaralda, Diversidad de Perfiles” (Risaralda, a diversity of profiles) works on quality and on exporting micro-lots. Risaralda has no denomination of origin of its own.

Where and how high is it grown?

The atlas places Risaralda’s coffee zone at 1,100 to 1,900 metres, with an average temperature of 19.8 °C, across the department’s 14 municipalities, all in the basin of the Cauca river. It groups them into three subregions:

Subregion	Share of coffee area	Municipalities
West	63.9%	Apía, Balboa, Belén de Umbría, Guática, La Celia, La Virginia, Quinchía, Santuario
Centre	31.6%	Dosquebradas, Marsella, Pereira, Santa Rosa de Cabal
North-west	4.5%	Mistrató, Pueblo Rico

Source: Atlas Cafetero de Colombia (FNC and Cenicafé), figures to 30 September 2017.

82% of the coffee area was planted with rust-resistant varieties bred by Cenicafé, such as Castillo, the atlas says.

When is it harvested?

Twice a year, like most of central Colombia. The atlas gives a main harvest from September to December, with 75% of the crop, and a mitaca from March to May, with 25%. In September 2026, the departmental government expected about 32,000 pickers for the end-of-year harvest, Eje21 reported.

How much coffee does Risaralda grow?

Figure	Value	Source
Area, 2026	About 45,000 ha	Ciudad Región; Eje21
Area, 2024	43,181 ha	FNC coffee information system, via Agronegocios
Area, 2017	49,328 ha	Atlas Cafetero de Colombia
Families, 2026	About 19,500	Ciudad Región; Eje21
Expected 2026 crop	550,000–600,000 bags	Departmental assembly, via Ciudad Región and El Diario

How did the 2026 earthquake affect Risaralda?

The magnitude 7.4 earthquake of 10 August 2026 struck western Colombia. By late September, the departmental coffee committee had made 3,565 field visits and found some damage in 473 of the department’s 687 rural districts, El Diario reported. Growers also faced a lower price: a local deputy, Carlos Wilson Suárez, said the price per arroba had fallen from about COP 300,000–320,000 a year earlier to about COP 204,000, according to Ciudad Región. The authorities planned to deploy more than 2,500 police and soldiers across the 14 municipalities to protect the harvest.

Risaralda and other Colombian origins

• Coffee in Colombia: the whole country, its harvests and its figures.
• Caldas: its neighbour, home of Cenicafé.
• Quindío: the heart of the coffee axis.
• Valle del Cauca: the southern end of the coffee axis.