I would like to share some simple statistics regarding the production of coffee in Colombia. Some of you may ask why you should know about this issue, the answer is any shortages from big coffee producer such as Brazil or Colombia impact the availability, price and quality of your cup.
Colombia is known as one of the largest producer of Arabica coffee in the world. Any shortage of this coffee may end up affecting your blend ingredients or single origin availability of any specific region.
Some variables that affect the production are under control of growers but others, such as weather conditions are not. When both manageable and unmanageable variables come together at the same time the production level is inevitably impacted.
Statistics show Colombian coffee production for 2008/2009 harvest was the lowest registered since 1973/1974. In September 2009, Colombia exported 5.935.000 bags, representing 49% less than the previous year.
The question is: Is this is transitory situation or permanent tendency? Fortunately, the unmanageable variables are expected to improve for next year. For instance, the volume of rain may not be as high this year.
On the other hand, the manageable variables include the aggressive program of renovation of 25% of the total coffee area in Colombia. Farmers are working to remove old and unproductive coffee trees and replace them with new ones, which may add to greater production next year.
In addition, growers have fertilized properly this year, which means that yields may increase.
Finally, the ICO (International Coffee Organization) reports that production of coffee in Colombia is expected to increase for next year, but it may take longer to reach normal levels of production — between 10.5 and 11 millions bags a year. The goal of the FNC (Federation of Coffee growers of Colombia) is to produce up to 17 millions bags of coffee for 2013-2014.
