In Colombia, the vast majority of coffee is cultivated, harvested, and processed on small family-owned farms. While these producers are their own architects, designing farm management and post-harvest solutions to fit their environment, they also need strong alliances to bring their coffee to the international market and earn fair prices. To support this system of small farm production, Colombia established the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia (FNC) to organize and support a complex network of larger regional coffee co-operatives. These cooperatives provide producers with valuable logistical support like centralized warehouses to store dried parchment, and dry mills where the coffee is prepared for export according to size.

Colombia is the second-largest producer of coffee in the world and the largest producer of washed and Arabica coffees. It’s well known for the high quality of its coffee, and about half of its exports come to the United States. Annually, Colombia exports approximately 12.5 million bags and consumes 2 million bags internally.