Due to the decline in Colombian production and exports, FNC met with growers to discuss future strategies.

According to a report released by the Colombian National Federation of Coffee growers (FNC), coffee production in Colombia in February 2024 totaled 961000 bags, slightly higher than the 9.959 million bags in January and a decrease of 6.2 per cent compared with the same period last year. Although there has been a reduction in production, in the past 12 months, Colombian coffee production reached 11.3 million bags, an increase of 1.73% over the same period last year, with an overall slight increase.

In addition, Colombia exported 1.04 million bags of coffee in February, up 12.5% from 929000 bags in the same period last year. However, due to the recovery of coffee production of origin in neighboring countries such as Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador and the ability to buy coffee of similar quality at lower prices, Colombia exported 10.8 million bags of coffee in the past 12 months, a decrease of 3.1 per cent compared with the same period last year. In addition, these data show that Colombia has begun to shake off the influence of El Ni ñ o weather and begin to restore production, but coffee production is still not at its best because the drought brought by El Ni ñ o has hindered the growth of coffee trees.

And, despite getting rid of El Ni ñ o, the bad news is that La Nina weather will occur in June-August and may last throughout the second half of the year. Colombia has been affected by La Nina weather between 2022 and 2023, which lowers the temperature in coffee-producing areas and prolongs the coffee growing season, which makes coffee farms need to invest more manpower and material resources. in addition, geopolitics led to an increase in fertilizer costs, which increased the cost of producing a bag by 50%.

Therefore, considering that La Nina could have an impact on the coffee bean harvest in the future, the head of FNC and representatives of coffee growers from all over Colombia recently attended the FNC steering committee meeting to discuss disaster prevention measures to ensure the income of coffee producers.

And in order to promote Colombian coffee, it has announced the launch of Cafix, a coffee export platform, which will help export coffee at lower transportation costs, and coffee growers associated with Cafix can export small amounts of raw or cooked coffee beans to foreign customers at a price they agree to. And can save coffee growers about 70% to 80% of shipping costs, but also ensure that the product will reach the final buyer in perfect condition. Services are already provided to coffee growers who have customers abroad, and the next step will be to create a market for coffee growers and interested buyers to do business. Moreover, it is seeking to democratize coffee exports and give producers the opportunity to establish contacts with foreign customers to export coffee in a direct, agile and competitive manner.