BOGOTA, Colombia – At a time when low international prices threaten sustainability of coffee production in different countries, Colombia has how to defend itself, coffee quality, the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) CEO, Roberto Vélez, said.
This value proposition in defense of the 540,000 Colombian coffee-growing families was affirmed at the inauguration of the 2019 edition of Cafes de Colombia Expo, the most important specialty coffee expo in Latin America and the Caribbean, that took place last month in Corferias, Bogota.
The union leader referred to the predictions of prestigious sustainable development expert Professor Jeffrey Sachs, who warned that many non-profitable coffee growers will tend to disappear.
To which Vélez Vallejo recalled what he has raised before and in different spaces: It is with quality, to which Colombian coffee has long been committed, that it can defend itself in the global market, against competitors that are withering. “Colombia has how to defend itself, one unique soul, coffee quality; that is the key to the future of Colombia,” he said.
“We have to continue working for Colombia to be what it has been all these years, the beacon of quality coffee in the world; competitors are withering … at those price levels high-quality coffees begin to stumble, but as long as Colombia has coffee institutions such as the FNC, we are not going to let growers out of the coffee world, they won’t take us out, and we’ll take over the world of high-quality coffee,” he added.
The FNC CEO also invited attendees to raise Colombia’s domestic coffee consumption, since the conditions are in place for everyone to be experts in the beverage.
“It’s necessary to drink high-quality coffee, there is no reason why a Colombian is not a coffee quality master, we have everything, but above all the sweat of coffee-growing families, there we cannot fail,” he noted.
