Colombian green coffee beans wholesale, from micro-lot to container

Colombian coffee regions for specialty green coffee

Colombian specialty coffee is grown in many regions. The cup notes below are the general profiles described by Café de Colombia for four Regional Denominations of Origin in southern and central Colombia. They are a guide to the origin, not a description of our offer; individual lots differ by variety, farm and process. Today our verified producer is in Cauca.

If you need a different origin, tell us which one you are looking for when you request access.

• Cauca: high acidity, medium body, a balanced cup with sweet and floral notes. Our verified producer farms here at 1,800–2,100 MASL.
• Huila: balanced, sweet, with acidity and medium-to-high body and fruit and caramel notes. Café de Colombia places Huila coffee between 1,000 and 2,200 MASL.
• Nariño: high acidity, medium body, a clean, soft cup with sweet notes and pronounced aroma.
• Tolima: medium-high acidity, clean and soft body, sweet flavors with citrus and fruit notes.

How does coffee export from Colombia work?

Every export of green coffee is controlled. The exporter must be registered with the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros (FNC), announce each shipment and pay the coffee contribution. At the port or airport, Almacafé, the FNC's logistics and quality arm, samples the coffee and issues a re-weighing certificate and, for excelso grades, a quality certificate.

For excelso, FNC rules (Resolution 05 of 2002, with later amendments) set requirements such as moisture of no more than 12%, a maximum number of defective beans per 500 g sample, no live insects, and a clean cup free of fermented, chemical or moldy taints. Since 2015, coffees of qualities other than excelso can also be exported under separate rules.

The FNC then issues the ICO certificate of origin once the contribution is paid. ICO rules require every coffee export to be covered by this certificate, and each bag carries an ICO mark: a country code, an exporter code and a lot number. That mark is how you trace a parcel back to its shipment.

Common commercial terms: FOB, EXW, samples and contracts

Terms are agreed lot by lot between buyer and exporter; we do not set or promise them. These are the ones you will see most often:

• FOB (Free On Board): the seller clears the coffee for export and loads it at the Colombian port, usually Cartagena, Santa Marta or Buenaventura. Freight and insurance from there are yours.
• EXW (Ex Works): you take the coffee at the warehouse or mill and handle everything after, including export, which in Colombia requires a registered exporter.
• Samples: pre-shipment samples for approval before contracting, and arrival samples to confirm the lot matches. Courier shipments are the usual route for samples.
• Contracts: lot, variety, process, quantity, quality specification, price basis, Incoterm, shipment window, payment terms, tolerances and how claims are handled.

Colombian coffee harvest seasons: main crop and mitaca

Colombia harvests for much of the year because its regions sit at different latitudes and rainfall patterns. Cenicafé describes two harvest peaks in the central coffee zone, April to June and September to December, with the larger one called the main crop and the smaller one the mitaca or traviesa.

In the south the pattern shifts: Cenicafé groups Nariño, Cauca, Tolima and Huila among the departments where the main crop generally falls in the first half of the year, while parts of Huila, Tolima and Cauca have two harvests of similar size. In practice, ask the producer for the actual harvest and shipment window of the lot you want.

Documents to request before you buy

Whoever you buy from, ask for these before committing to a lot. A serious exporter will provide them without hesitation.

• Lot sheet: farm region, altitude, variety, process, harvest date, moisture and screen size.
• Cupping record with score and protocol used (SCA scale; 80+ is specialty).
• Pro forma invoice with Incoterm and shipment window.
• Commercial invoice and packing list.
• ICO certificate of origin and FNC quality or re-weighing certificate.
• Bill of lading (sea) or air waybill.
• For EU buyers: plot geolocation and traceability data required under the EU Deforestation Regulation.

How sourcing through our network works

We are a sourcing desk, not an exporter or a marketplace. We connect international buyers with verified specialty producers, and the buyer does not pay for the connection. Today our network has one verified producer, in Cauca, with national champion lots, lots used by World Brewers Cup competitors and on-farm microbiology and quality labs. The network is expanding through producer applications, and producer identity stays private until you are verified.

• Request access with your company, market and the volume and profile you need.
• Verification: we confirm you are an active roaster, importer or coffee chain.
• Discovery call to define lots, processes, volume and timing.
• Direct introduction to the producer, so you negotiate samples and terms with them.