Colombia is home to a broad spectrum of flavours thanks to its diverse growing regions. Even within the growing regions themselves, there are plentiful variations due to the microclimates created by mountainous terrain, wind patterns, proximity to the Equator, and, of course, differences in varieties and processing techniques.

The southwestern departments of Nariño and Cauca tend to have higher altitude farms, which comes through in more complex acidity and heightened florality in the profiles. Though difficult to distinguish a single specific profile for each region, you can expect to find heavier, more floral notes in Cauca juxtaposed against a brighter profile from Nariño.

Our relationships in Cauca and Nariño started over fifteen years ago, when our founding partner, Andrew, caught news of some Cup of Excellence data that pointed the way to unique, delicate, and fruity profiles in the then less popular southwestern growing regions of Colombia. Along his search for something new, Andrew met and began forming a relationship with our now long-term exporter partner Banexport and the simple version of the story is that the rest is history.

We now source more coffee from Colombia than any other origin. Over the years, we have been able to develop and grow alongside Banexport and the smallholder producer partners we’ve built partnerships with through them. Our relationships in Cauca and Nariño are value-aligned, as we have worked flexibly together over the years to innovate and build programs that support producers in gaining higher earnings through sustainable systems.

Members of ASMUCAFE

Among our programs in Colombia, we have a strong and continually growing extension of our Women Producers Program. This year we have selections available from our longstanding women producer partners of ASMUCAFE and AMACA. We are also expanding our network here to include the ARGCAFE women’s group in Argelia, Cauca. Included in the purchase price of each coffee offered under our Women Coffee Producers Program is a premium that goes directly to each of the women-led organizations we work with. 

Shipments out of Colombia this year are delayed.

As we strive to work closely with our customers, our current offerings are representative of the general needs of our specialty coffee community. That being said, we have access to coffees far beyond our offerings list thanks to our extensive sourcing programs around the world — all you need to do is reach out to us. If there’s something that you’re looking for, we’d love to work with you and our sourcing team to turn your needs into a reality.