Introduction to Antioquia, the coffee producing area of Colombia in South America

South America is rich in natural resources, the Andes almost runs through the western part of South America, and has the highest peak in America, Mount Aconcagua, which is also a continent with more volcanoes in the world. South America is mainly tropical, with a warm and humid climate, abundant rainfall and a variety of natural resources. there are many large coffee producing countries in South America, such as Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and so on.

Currently, Colombia is the third largest coffee producer in the world, thanks to its topography and climate. Colombia has three Codiera mountains stretching north and south to the Andes, with fertile volcanic soil on both sides, and coffee is grown along the highlands of these mountains.

Colombia is located in the tropics, the climate varies according to the topography, the southern part of the eastern plain and the Pacific coast has a tropical rain forest climate, the mountains at 1000-2000 meters above sea level belong to subtropical climate, and the northwest belongs to the savanna climate. The mountain steps provide a diverse climate, so it is the harvest season all year round, with different kinds of coffee ripening at different times.

However, the road to coffee development in Colombia is not plain sailing. According to historical records, coffee was introduced to Colombia around the 18th century through Jesuit monks, first grown in Antioquia and then spread across the country.

However, during the period 1899-1903, war broke out in Colombia, resulting in a sharp decline in the population of coffee growers and the abandonment of a large number of plantations. When the war ended, in order to save the coffee industry, the government began to consolidate the wasteland and divide it into small plots and sell them to farmers at very low prices, allowing them to grow coffee and other crops.

But coffee produced by small coffee farms does not have much say in the international coffee market. So in 1920, at the suggestion of a farmer, the Colombian Coffee Union was formed to protect the interests of small coffee farms. Since then, the organization has grown and promoted the more authoritative and regulated Colombian National Coffee producers Association (FNC) in 1927 to enhance the global competitiveness and influence of Colombian coffee.

Colombia has a large territory and has a number of coffee producing areas, while the main coffee producing areas include the provinces of Cauca (Cauca), Santander (Santander), Antioquia (Antioquia), Narino (Narino), Tolima (Tolima) and Huila (Huilan). There are two harvest seasons in a year, the main season is from October to January, and the secondary season is from April to July.

Antioquia is located in north-central Colombia, with alpine terrain belonging to the Andes and the warm sea breeze of the Caribbean Sea. Coffee is grown at an altitude of 1300-2200 meters, with a higher altitude and a moderate amount of precipitation, making the coffee grown here an important area of Colombian coffee.

Due to its rich agricultural resources, Antioquia is currently the largest producer of Arabica coffee in Colombia and one of the provinces with the largest export of coffee beans in Colombia. Although Antioquia is famous for its production, there are also many estates that produce high-quality coffee, such as La Palma Manor.

La Palma Manor, located in Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara) in Antioquia, is owned by the famous Echavarr í a family and owned by Pedro Miguel Echevarr í a. In the past, the Echavarr í a family has been a large producer and has begun to shift to high-quality boutique coffee in the past 10 years.

The Echavarr í a family discovered Chiloso Chiroso in the town of Urrao in Ulao more than 10 years ago, brought it back to Santa Barbara and vigorously promoted the Chiloso Chiroso variety in the surrounding area. Participating in the Colombian COE competition in 2023, the estate won the eighth place with 89.39 points for the Chiroso Chiroso variety.