Colombia is a country in northwestern South America and has coasts on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Behind coastal plains lie three mountain ranges of the Andes, separated by high valleys and plateaux. The most populous cities in Colombia are in the center of the country and on the north coast. To the southeast are the prairies and then the jungles of the Amazon. Colombia has a tropical climate, although temperatures vary with altitude. 

The main agricultural products are coffee, sugar, bananas and flowers. As for minerals, the main production consists of coal, nickel, gold, silver, platinum and emeralds. The industry mainly involves the processing of minerals and agricultural products. Despite its wide range of agricultural products and exports, coffee is most closely associated with Colombian identity. But local consumption is surprisingly low for such a label. 

The country has done a lot for the reputation of the coffee and is therefore important in the indication of origin. Colombian coffee is probably the first that springs to mind when it comes to quality coffee, perhaps because it was the Colombian coffee industry that created the idea of differentiation based on quality and origin: it was 1958. That Year Juan Valdez was “born”. Juan Valdez is a fictional character who has appeared in advertisements for the FNC, the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, since 1958, representing a Colombian coffee farmer. 

One of the biggest challenges facing Colombian coffee production today is logistics. Riots can easily affect coffee transit in ports and roads. 

Colombian coffee is one of the few coffees in the world that is supplied in bulk all year round. This is due to the privileged location below the equator line, which offers ideal weather conditions. 

*Some Robusta experiments are being tested in some areas. 

Historically, Europe and the United States have always been by far the largest export market for Colombian coffee. This is no longer the case today as the European industry has reduced its share of their blends mainly out of price considerations and after learning to substitute Colombian components in their blends. 

Colombia is the world's largest producer of washed coffee and the third largest coffee producer in the world after Brazil and Vietnam. However, the labor shortage in the coffee industry is a problem in Colombia, especially during periods of low market prices when workers can easily be tempted to take jobs in other segments. 

New generations of coffee farmers are less and less interested in maintaining the coffee activity. Young people tend to look for better opportunities in the cities. 

​

Special features:

Juan Valdez the name "Juan Valdez" is by no means unique, since both Juan and Valdez are common Spanish-language names, and there may be thousands of men with that name living today (although the Valdez name is little known in the coffee-growing regions of Colombia); This became relevant in a 2006 lawsuit over the phrase "Juan Valdez drinks coffee from Costa Rica". In 2006, the FNC obtained an injunction preventing Costa Rican company Café Britt from selling t-shirts bearing the slogan. The FNC then filed a $1 million lawsuit on July 7, 2006 after Café Britt refused to sign a contract, stating that they respect FNC's intellectual property and neither the name nor the Image by use Juan Valdez. Cafe Britt filed a $200,000 counterclaim after it produced an affidavit from a Costa Rican man named Juan Valdes confirming that he drinks Juan Valdez Costa Rican coffee. Café Britt also argued that the expression was so common that it was not entitled to legal protection. It was all discontinued at some point.