How is the coffee you love produced?
Farmers in Colombia’s Coffee Region lead our tour through the 8-step process, its problems and solutions.
Hernando Arenas’ startup is a coffee farm. Hernando starts up early too. He wakes up every morning at 6 a.m. and produces the coffee that powers us.
I recently met Mr. Arenas on a trip to the lush green hills of Colombia’s Coffee Triangle. This country is synonymous with coffee. Why? Its temperate climate produces warm sunny days and ample rainfall. Its proximity to the equator, creates two long harvest seasons. Its altitude is between 3,000–6,000 feet, perfect for producing the world’s desired Arabica bean. The winner of the 2015 World Barista Championship served Colombian Arabica.
Colombian coffee has also been bolstered by outstanding marketing. In the 1950s an American ad agency in partnership with the Colombian Coffee Farmers Federation created Juan Valdez. Juan is a fictional farmer who, accompanied by his donkey, delivers fresh java. Valdez went viral. Folgers started including “100% Colombian Coffee” on its packaging, sales took off, and the country became third greatest coffee exporter the world behind Vietnam, and Brazil. Juan even made cameos in pop culture.
However, Colombian coffee production is in hot water.
A destructive parasite has killed an estimated 25% of coffee cherries on some farms, and the international price of joe is low.
On a walk around the farm of Mr. Manolo, I learned how farmers are using innovative methods to solve these problems, and improve the coffee production process.
The Process
1. Planting
Coffee’s not native to Colombia. Beans were imported from Ethiopia. Still the conditions in the Andean lowlands are perfect for cultivation.
Once planted it takes a coffee plant approximately six years to grow to its full fruit-bearing capacity. It can grow up to 40 feet within 40–60 years. Most coffee farmers, such as the farm of Don Elias in Salento, Quindío, cut their trees back when they reach 6 feet to make it easier to harvest.
2. Harvesting
Farmers like Hernando harvest ripe red coffee cherries from the trees. His parents were farmers too. Recently, Hernando tells me, he’s been harvesting significantly less coffee.
A destructive parasite, the coffee borer beetle, known in Spanish as La Broca, has destroyed a quarter of the region’s beans in some cases.
The beetle digs itself into coffee beans, lays eggs that become larvae, and spoils the seed.
Signage is posted on the farm informing harvesters to pick cherries as soon as they are ripe, in order to cut down on the destructive parasite. Other farms are using organic pesticides. In Salento Don Elias sprays his crops with a combination of water, vinegar and diced onion that repels the insects.
3. Shelling
Once harvested farmers bring their lot to be weighed and shelled.
Most farmers in this area of Colombia’s Coffee Region are paid 500–600 Colombian Pesos (COP) for every pound picked.
During one of Colombia’s two harvest seasons, an outstanding farmer can pick as much as 100 pounds in a day. This shakes out to roughly $60,000 pesos or $20 USD.
Don Manolo’s farm prides itself on empowering low-income families and respecting them with fair working conditions. Hernando is also a resident at Don Manolo’s farm and states that he lives an enjoyable life with his wife and grandson.
After weighing, the farmers shell by pouring ripe cherries into a machine that removes the bean from its shell. The machine deposits the shell outside the machine and transports the bean into a pool of water.
4. Washing
Beans then stay in the pool for 24–36 hours.
Many parts of Colombia near the Coffee Region have been struggling recently with extreme drought. Farmers have had to become more innovative. Farms like that of Don Elias use recycled rainwater to make the process sustainable.
5. Drying
After washing, the beans are dried in a flat porous bed covered by a tarp dome for approximately 8 days.
6. Roasting
The beans are then taken to a roaster. Manolo’s farm uses an application that precisely roasts the beans to the desired taste. The darkest roasts are considered to be French, and look practically charred. Less dark roasts are deemed light French or Full City, and have a deep brown color.
7. Exporting
Once roasted, the beans are sent abroad. Colombia’s top two coffee importing countries are Finland and the United States. Exports have been significantly affected by market factors.
Economic Difficulties in the Region
Low International Prices of Coffee
In 2015 the price of coffee dropped 33%. This has made earning a living more difficult for the people of the Coffee Region.
However, a devalued Colombian Peso has benefited farmers.
The Colombian Peso exchange rate is at one of its biggest devaluations in history.
Meanwhile back on the farm, a depreciated peso means coffee is now cheaper and more competitive on the international market.
A devalued peso “is a breath of fresh air for the agricultural sector,” Colombia’s Finance Minister recently noted.
Foreigners, because of their increased spending power due to their valued currency, buy more coffee since it seems cheaper. The lower price of Colombian coffee on the international market is creating a higher demand among foreign investors.
Even so, exporting coffee in Colombia is hard, as the government holds high standards to maintain the Café de Colombia brand.
Still , Colombia exports 80% of its coffee.
8. Brewing
Since Colombia exports 4 out of every five coffee beans it produces, inferior coffee is often served in the country. It’s not uncommon to be served instant coffee, our guide Manuel Carrascal notes.
Still, great coffee is relatively easy to come by. Once you get it, the question becomes, how do you prepare it?
The most popular method of brewing in Colombia is a colador, a colander. It looks like a baby sock attached to a wire. You put a serving of ground coffee into it and then slowly pour hot water on top. After the first use it stops tasting like cotton, and starts tasting like great coffee.
Manuel tells us about an elderly women he met who used the same colador for decades and cleaned it by simply washing it with water between uses.
The end of the tour
As dusk engulfs the lush green hills of the Coffee Region, Hernando finishes his labor, and invites me to meet his wife.
Sonia is with her grandson in his room sorting light and dark coffee beans on a tray.
She introduces me to the boy, and shows his accolades in school — his kindergarten diploma, his class picture, and his headshot in suit and tie.
It finally becomes clear why the people of Colombia’s Coffee Region persist.
Coffee is synonymous with Colombia and will continue to be. People who farm in the region persevere for the next generation.
As we drive back to town, I feel inspired. The caffeine and people of Colombia’s Coffee Region are energizing.
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