Dancing Goat

History

The first coffee seeds supposedly made it to the American continent in Dutch and French ships in around 1714. It was the Jesuit priests that, by 1723, had introduced the seeds to Colombia. The first mention of actual coffee growing originates from 1732, from the Jesuit Seminary of Popayán. It then made its way to other provinces, such as Santa Marta and Riohacha.

It wasn't until the end of the 18th century that the first commercial plantations started producing coffee. This was in the regions of Santander, Boyaca, and the hills around Medellin.

Today, Colombia is one of the world’s coffee-producing power houses, satisfying some 10% of the global coffee demand.

One notable thing about Colombia’s coffee production is the existence of the Federation Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia (the FNC). The federation makes sure that growers can always sell their coffee for a certain price. They still can, however, sell directly to buyers. What’s most interesting is that the federation has been around since the 1920s, way before something resembling Fair Trade had even been heard of.

Of the 500,000 families producing coffee in Columbia, more than 70% are small producers, with land the size of 1.5 hectares at most. These are some of the factors adding to the variety and making the competition drive quality upwards.