Colombia

Colombia's washed arabica is grown by roughly 600,000 mostly small farmers along three Andean cordilleras. Because the country straddles the equator, its regions harvest at different times: the central coffee axis has its main crop late in the year and a mitaca fly crop in mid-year, while the southern departments run the opposite calendar, keeping fresh coffee available year-round. The Federación Nacional de Cafeteros certifies exports, runs the Cenicafé research centre and holds the Café de Colombia geographical indication.

Arabica Harvesting in November

Production 2026/27: 13.4Mbags804k t · USDA PSD
Exports 2026/27: 13.4Mbags100% of the harvest
Arabica share: 100%
World rank: 3of 407.1% of origin output
Area harvested 2024: 838khaFAOSTAT
Altitude: not published

Production and exports

60 kg bags · USDA PSD market years

Market years 2010/11 to 2026/27; the last year is USDA's current estimate. Domestic use is PSD's domestic consumption line.

Area harvested, hectares · FAOSTAT

FAOSTAT crops and livestock products, item green coffee (CC BY 4.0). Values flagged as estimates by FAO are included as published.

Where the coffee goes

Supply and use

USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Production, Supply and Distribution (PSD), market years. Supply on the left equals use on the right.

Market year 2026/27

Stocks carried in	866k
Production	13.4M
Imports	2.00M
Exports	13.4M
Domestic use	2.20M
Stocks carried out	670k
Share of the harvest exported	100%
Rank among producing origins by exports	3 of 37

Where the exports go is not published here. Shipments by destination, including US imports from Colombia, come from USITC DataWeb and the Census trade API, which need credentials we do not hold yet.

Harvest

Harvest calendar for every origin

Main cropFly cropTypical US arrival

Sources disagree: Huila main crop

Central coffee axis · main cropSep–Jan · US Jan–Jun

Central departments (Antioquia, Caldas, Quindío, Risaralda): Mercanta gives September to mid-January with arrivals mid-January to March; Cafe Imports lists Colombian arrivals as year-round.
Central coffee axis · fly cropApr–Jun

Mitaca in the central departments; Mercanta gives April-June; Cafe Imports confirms a mid-year fly crop elsewhere and year-round Colombian arrivals.
Nariño and Cauca · main cropMay–Jul

Cauca and Nariño: Cafe Imports May-July main with a November-January fly crop; Mercanta says the south runs the reverse of the centre. Neither gives arrival months for the south.
Nariño and Cauca · fly cropNov–Jan

Cauca and Nariño fly crop per Cafe Imports.
Huila · main cropApr–Jul
Sources disagree
Huila: sources disagree. Mercanta groups Huila with Nariño in the south (main crop when the centre has its fly crop, i.e. roughly April-June); Cafe Imports lists Huila's main crop as November-January with a May-July fly crop.

Growing regions

12 regions

Varieties, processing and grading

Main varieties

Castillo Colombia Caturra Typica Bourbon Tabi

Common processing

Washed (wet, fully washed)

Export grading

Colombian export preparations (Excelso, Supremo, EP, UGQ)

ICO certifying agent: Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia

Character and protected names

Flavour tendencies

Central-belt Colombian coffees are typically balanced, sweet and medium-bodied with clear acidity; the high southern departments (Huila, Nariño, Cauca) produce brighter, fruit-forward cups, and the warmer northern regions such as Santander and the Sierra Nevada give fuller body with softer acidity.

General tendencies from importer origin notes, not a promise about any lot. The claims behind them are listed with their sources at the foot of the page.

Geographical indications and protected names

Name	Type	Register	Year
Café de Colombia	PGI	EU register of PDOs and PGIs (Commission Regulation (EC) No 1050/2007); also UK GI scheme	2007