Colombia, the world’s largest producer of soft Arabica coffee, produced over 12.1 million 60 kilogram bags of coffee since October 2013, a 22% increase over the same time the year before.
Not only have Colombian coffee growers, who are essentially unionized under the National Federation of Coffee Growers, been producing more than last year, but they have also been benefiting from higher coffee prices.
Coffee prices have been rising due to poor weather conditions in Brazil, the world’s single largest coffee producer. According to Bloomberg, Starbucks Corp. and J.M. Smucker Co. raised retail prices this year after coffee futures surged 61 percent in the first quarter.
This has led coffee income and its related government support to reach a total of $1.9 billion during the first nine months of the year, an increase of 19% percent over the same period last year.
Coffee exports also took off – they exceeded 10.8 million bags of 60 kilos, 23% more than the same period last year.