Coffee lots from Antioquia, Nariño, Norte de Santanderl, and Tolima have been announced as winners of the fifth version of the national quality competition Colombia, Land of Diversity. The competition was held online in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As an increasingly established tradition, the competition recognises coffee 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 6510).
- The coffee produced by Santos Vizcaya Hernández (pictured), 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 COP 25 million 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.
Given limitations derived from the pandemic, the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) faced the challenge of holding the competition virtually, which between 15 May and 15 August received a record 1610 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 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 (US$65) per load.
From this group, the 70 best lots were selected, coming from 11 departments (Antioquia, Caldas, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Huila, Nariño, Norte de Santander, Quindío, Risaralda, Tolima, and Valle del Cauca), which competed for the first places, leaving 32 lots that will go to an international auction on 29 October.
For more information, visit federaciondecafeteros.org
