Colombia’s Coffee Output To Increase to 16 million bags by 2027
(This story was originally published late yesterday)
Coffee Network (Bogota)- Colombia, the world’s third largest coffee producer, will boost coffee output to 14 million bags of 60-kg towards the end of 2025 and 16 million bags in 2027 as this Andean country aims to renovate 20% of its coffee plantations in 2024 and onwards, German Bahamon general manager of the coffee growers federation (FNC) said.
Colombia is expected to produce 11.4 million bags of 60-kg in the calendar year 2023, Bahamon told reporters on the sidelines of the 92th annual coffee congress.
“We have defined that we will renovate 20% of our coffee park in 2024. By renovating 20% of the 842,000 hectares, the age of coffee plantations will drop. We will improve productivity and increase the profitability,” Bahamon said.
The renovation along with a new loan from the Agricultural Ministry to foster Zoca and increased fertilization will lead to a boost in productivity, Bahamon noted.
FNC has not yet counted the beans on trees to predict the 2023-2024 coffee harvest. Although he said coffee growers in the departments of Nariño, Cauca and Huila are reporting good flowerings associated to the higher luminosity induced by the El Niño.
Yet coffee growers need some rainfall early next year to begin the filling of the beans, Bahamon said.
The global coffee market should expect a surplus next year led by increased output from Brazil, Bahamon noted.
Robusta
FNC has yet recommended planting Robusta in Colombia because they don’t have technical information about which are the best varieties resistant to pests, and which are the varieties that yield the higher productivity.
“We don't want to do it just for the sake of it, we want to do it in a responsible and serious way,” he said. “Once we suggest it, we are not going to cause harm to a coffee-growing family,” Bahamon added.
If Robusta coffee is endorsed, it could be used to substitute the 2 million bags of coffee that gets imported each year to supply the local market.
Colombia could plant up 80,000 hectares of Robusta beans, which could yield 3.2 million bags of 60-kg in three-four years. By doing so, Colombia could recover production of about 14 million bags, a level that lost four years ago. The production of 3.2 million bags could help replace the 2 million bags of imported coffee that it’s used for local consumption needs, the coffee exporters association Asoexport has said.
A hectare of Robusta could yield as much as 40 bags of 60-kg of coffee, twice as much as the one produced by Arabica, Asoexport said.
Colombian President Petro ordered to form an interinstitutional table that invited the global president of Nestle to promote the production of Robusta beans.
Agricultural institute Agrosavia is carrying out tests to produce Robusta beans in the Pacific town of Tumaco, humid areas in the Caribbean and the Llanos Foothills.
Agrosavia has already imported the seeds of Robusta, and the seedlings are being reproduced. It is understanding the adaptation and performance. It is also evaluating planting distances, fertilization, integrated management of pests and diseases, pruning, etc.
Expansion of Land
Colombia will not expand coffee land until the nation ensures new buyers in the international market that guarantees the efforts to boost the number of hectares in coffee, Bahamon noted.
FNC will first identify new growing markets such as China to boost areas of coffee, he added.
“We first need to generate the demand for Colombian coffee in international markets before we increase the area of plantations,” he noted.
The Minister of Agriculture today said the Petro administration seeks to expand the coffee plantations to about 1 million hectares by end of his administration in 2026, up from around 850,000 hectares now. Such expansion will also be financed with public-public funds.
“Coffee growers today have 2 million hectares of which around 850,000 hectares are producing beans. We want them to expand the coffee hectares to improve the revenues of coffee families,” she said.
Bahamon said Colombia will export 137,000 bags of 60-kg to China in 2023, up from 50,000 bags last year. Colombia is also making inroads in Estonia, and it is expanding in the Middle East.
Separately, Bahamon said only one of the troubled coffee cooperatives is pending a payment agreement with FNC. “The rest has already signed a payment agreement with FNC,” he added.
Dry Coffee
One of Bahamon’s priorities is that coffee growers stop selling “humid beans “ to coffee cooperatives as they are damaging the quality of the cup being produced in Colombia.
Coffee cooperatives in Antioquia, Nariño and Zipacon in Cundinamarca are currently only buying dry parchment coffee.
“To buy cherry coffee, the cooperative has the ability to establish what product they are going to sell. They can even make the decision on what product the market is asking them to offer, if they want to dry it in a natural way or if they want fermentation,” he concluded.
By Diana Delgado
