The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation announced that October 2013 coffee production hit record highs for the first time in six years. Coffee production rose 43 percent, harvesting 8.6 million bags, 2.6 million bags more than last year. Coffee exports exceeded 9.1 million bags. As a result of the plant renovation program that seeks to increase productivity and plant health in coffee, coffee production in Colombia, the leading producer of mild washed Arabica coffee, exceeded 10.3 million bags of 60 kilos over the past twelve months.
This rise in coffee production coincides with the increase in total exports, which also have been increasing. So much so, that in the last twelve months foreign sales grew 26 percent, which will contribute to the growing demand of high quality Colombian coffee.
It is worth noting that an increasing portion of Colombia coffee exports corresponds to value-added coffee, including specialty coffee, which allows producers to demand higher prices and benefits. This year 35 percent of exports were sold in higher value segments, while more than 164,000 coffee growers are tied to a sustainability protocol such as 4C, UTZ, Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade (Flo) or C.A.F.E Practices.
It is expected that 50 percent of exports by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation in 2013 will be specialty coffees; whereas in 2006, that number stood at only 19 percent.
In the first ten months of 2013, production surpassed that of the entire year in 2012. So far this year the harvest exceeded the 8.6 million bags, a 43 percent increase from the 6.1 million bags produced in the same period last year. This means that in the first ten months of 2013, production already surpassed the total 7.7 million bags from 2012.
As of October 2013, production reached 1,058,000 bags of 60 kilos, a 62 percent increase of the 653 thousand bags produced in the tenth month of 2012.
