Colombian Excelso

In Colombia the vast majority of coffee is cultivated, harvested and processed on small family owned farms. While these producers are their own architects, designing farm management and post-harvest solutions to fit their environment, they also need strong alliances to bring their coffee to the international market and earn fair prices. To support this system of small farm production, Colombia established the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia (FNC) to organize and support a complex network of larger regional coffee cooperatives. These cooperatives provide producers with valuable logistical support like centralized warehouses to store dried parchment and dry mills where the coffee is prepared for export according to size. The Excelso grade is the designation for beans that will not pass through a screen opening below 14/64 of an inch. Excelso lots are often traceable to regions of Colombia, each with distinct harvest times, which provides for a constant supply of fresh Colombian Excelso throughout the calendar year.

Colombia is the second-largest producer of coffee in the world and the largest producer of washed and Arabica coffees. It’s well known for the high quality of its coffee, and about half of its exports come to the United States. Annually, Colombia exports approximately 12.5 million bags and consumes 2 million bags internally.

Excelso beans are harvest from a variety of regions (here shown with their capital cities), including;

Antioquia, Medellin (18% of total production)

Tolima, Ibague

Caldas, Manizales (29% of total production)

Valle del Cauca, Cali (13% of total production)

Huila, Neiva (5% of total production)

Cauca, Popayan (4% of total production)

Santander, Bucaramanga