OFFICE COFFEE

Colombian coffee is often regarded as some of the highest quality coffee in
the world. Colombia has traditionally grown Arabica beans and its unique
geography makes it perfectly suited for producing a delicious, high quality
brew. Colombia’s excellent growing conditions have paired with an
aggressive marketing campaign by the National Federation of Coffee Growers
(FNC), which has worked since the late 1950’s to bring Colombia’s coffee
sector to the forefront of international attention. Colombia has traditionally
been second in global coffee production only to Brazil, but has been set back
to third by Vietnam’s recent market entry and rapidly expanding production
of Robusta coffees. Over 500,000 farms, most of them small landholdings of
5 hectares or less are scattered across the zonas cafeteras, some of the most
biologically diverse landscapes in the world.

Geography and Environment

Colombia is bisected by the Andes Mountains which splits into three parallel
cordilleras (mountain ranges) as they run south to north. Much of the nation’
s coffee is grown in this area. The small nation, about three times the size of
Montana contains two of South America’s five “biodiversity hotspots”. The
Tumbes-Choco hotspot occupies all of Colombia’s coast, while the Tropical
Andes hotspot covers nearly all its mountain ranges. In fact, Conservation
International calls the Colombian Andes the “richest and most diverse region
on earth,” noting that the whole of the tropical Andes chain contains one
sixth of the world’s plant species in only one percent of its land area.