Colombia

Colombia is the origin that most clearly demonstrates why a coffee figure without its basis is not information. The country publishes more price data than almost anywhere else, daily, in a dated document, and nearly every English-language summary of that data is wrong in the same two ways.

The price is not per pound, and not of green coffee

The Federacion Nacional de Cafeteros posts an internal price every day. It is quoted in Colombian pesos per carga: 125 kilograms of dry parchment. Parchment is not green coffee. Converting one to the other requires the factor de rendimiento, the number of kilograms of parchment needed to produce a 70 kg sack of export excelso, and that factor is published alongside the price precisely because it varies.

Three further keys sit on top. The price differs by delivery point on the same day across sixteen Almacafe branches. It is reduced by cup-defect discounts, scored by defect type and by how many of eight cups show it. And programme bonuses apply on top. A single number labelled “the Colombian coffee price” has quietly discarded five dimensions.

Supremo is not better than Excelso

Excelso is the export standard. Supremo is a preparation inside Excelso, defined by screen size, and it sits alongside UGQ, Caracol, Europa, Extra, Premium and Maragogipe. The retail claim that Supremo is the higher of two grades is close to universal in English and it describes a ladder the standard does not have.

There is a second layer worth knowing before you pay for a mark. Size and defect terms above the minimum are agreed freely between exporter and buyer, and they are not verified in official quality control unless the sacks are physically marked as Premium, Supremo, Extra or Maragogipe. A quality claim is enforced when it is declared, and not otherwise.

Two harvests, and the smaller one is often the bigger one

The main harvest runs roughly September to December across most of the country, with the mitaca around April to June. Calling the mitaca a secondary crop is a national generalisation that fails locally: in several southern and central departments it is the principal harvest. Within a single department, low-elevation farms can finish picking before high-elevation farms begin.

How much of national output the mitaca represents is contested. One report sourced to the FNC puts it at 45 to 55 per cent of the national total; other sources describe it as 20 to 40 per cent of the main crop, which is a different quantity measured against a different denominator. We record that as contested rather than picking one.

Appellations do not follow departments

Colombia has seven coffee denominations of origin, and they cross-cut administrative geography. Cafe de la Sierra Nevada is a mountain range spanning several departments, not a department. A denomination page and a department page are different entities describing different areas, and treating them as the same key merges two things that do not merge.

Qualifications on the record

What the price actually refers to

The FNC posts the internal price daily as a dated PDF. A carga is 125 kg of dry PARCHMENT; converting to the 70 kg excelso export sack requires the published yield factor (factor de rendimiento), the kg of parchment needed for 70 kg of excelso. The price also differs by delivery point on the same day across sixteen Almacafe branches, and is reduced by cup-defect discounts scored by defect type and frequency out of eight cups. So "today's Colombian price" is five keys, not one: date, yield factor, branch, cup result and programme bonus.

How the grades nest

Excelso is the export standard. Supremo, UGQ, Caracol, Europa, Extra, Premium and Maragogipe are PREPARATIONS INSIDE it, separated by screen size, not parallel grades above or below it. Size and defect terms above the minimum are freely agreed between exporter and buyer and are not verified in official QC unless the sacks are physically marked.

Harvest qualification

The mitaca is NOT a minor second crop everywhere. In several southern and central departments it is the principal harvest, and within a single department low farms can finish before high farms start. Its share of national output is genuinely contested: one FNC-sourced report puts it at 45-55% of the national total while other sources describe it as 20-40% of the main crop.

Competition editions

More than one edition in a single year, split by region and timed to different harvest calendars. The key is (country, year, edition).

Typical cup

Caramel sweetness and a citric to malic acidity in washed lots; the high-altitude Huila and Narino profiles run brighter and more floral.

Varieties recorded here