Colombia

Colombia has a strong reputation for producing large quantities of quality, specialty coffee. Colombia produces the highest amount of specialty coffee in the whole world. The Andes Mountain range cuts through Colombia, which split into three parallel ranges that run south to north, and contain most of the nation's coffee farms. The region is renowned for its biodiversity, with Conservation International calling the Colombian Andes the “richest and most diverse region on Earth.” Reports show that the vast majority of Colombian is shade grown, with 1.4 million hectares, and only 717,000 hectares grown in full sun. It isn’t known exactly when coffee arrived in Colombia, some estimating the seventeenth century. The first shipment of green coffee was exported from Colombian in 1835, when 2500 pounds left the shores for the United States. By around 1860 coffee became the most dominant export crop, and soon after tariffs on coffee exporting became a major source of government revenues. The National Federation of Coffee Growers was established to create a name for Colombian coffee, and guaranteed purchase of green coffee. However there are still 38 co-operatives independent of the FNC, 19 of which are certified fair trade.