BOGOTÁ, Colombia– Coffee lots from Antioquia, Nariño, Norte de Santander and Tolima are the winners of the fifth version of the national quality competition “Colombia, Land of Diversity,” which was held online because of the pandemic.
As an increasingly established tradition, the competition recognizes in two categories – small and large lots – the great diversity and quality of Colombian coffee to continue positioning it as a highly differentiated bean and increase its demand both in the country and abroad.
In the small lot category, the five best coffees were awarded for their acidity, body, softness, balance, and exotic character, and each received a recognition of COP 25 million (USD 6,510).
- The coffee produced by Santos Vizcaya Hernández, in the Tolima department, was a triple winner for its softness, balance, and exotic character.
- The first place in acidity was for the coffee produced by Miguel Fernando Pérez Torrado, in Norte de Santander.
- And the coffee with the best body was that of Laura Arteaga Navarro, from Nariño.
In the large lot category, there is only one winner, also with a recognition of 25 million pesos for the best estate coffee.
- In this category, the winner was the coffee produced by Iván de Jesús Arango Arcila, in the department of Antioquia.
Colombia, Land of Diversity: The selection process
Given the limitations derived from the pandemic, the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) faced the challenge of holding virtually the competition, which between May 15 and August 15 received a record number of 1,610 coffee lots, harvested in the first half of the year.
The lots were evaluated by the jury, of which Almacafé (the FNC’s logistics arm) was part, for initially selecting 352 lots with over 86 points in the U.S. Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) score or with the equivalent three “outstanding” marks in the own protocol of “Colombia, Land of Diversity.”
These lots went to the second round and their producers received a quality premium of COP 250,000 (USD 65) per load.
From this group were selected the 70 best lots, coming from 11 departments (Antioquia, Caldas, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Huila, Nariño, Norte de Santander, Quindío, Risaralda, Tolima and Valle del Cauca), which competed today for the first places, leaving finally 32 lots that will go to the international auction on October 29.
Another of the great purposes of the competition is to open up new markets for highly differentiated coffees, connecting customers and farmers, the international auction being a great platform for that.
