Bucaramanga

The Bucaramanga region lies in the Santander department in the north of Colombia. Santander extends over Colombia’s eastern Andean range near the border with Venezuela. The region lies along the 9th parallel north, sharing latitude and crop cycle with coffee-growing regions in Panama, Costa Rica, India and Ethiopia, among others. 

In total, the department of Santander has around 50,000 hectares under coffee cultivation. Santander’s 31,750+ coffee producers represent a little over 5% of the coffee producers on a national level. 

Coffee cultivation starts at about 1,200 meters above sea level. Cultivation typically takes place under a shade canopy to protect the coffee trees and soil from higher temperatures. Shade cultivation helps create an environment with more stable and cool temperatures by blocking the strongest rays of the sun. The cooler temperatures created by shade trees help the coffee fruit mature more slowly, stimulating the development of complex sugars in the fruit and a more uniform ripening on the tree.

Due to the lower altitudes and higher temperatures, the risk of Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR) infestation is much higher in this part of the country. Therefore, most of the farms in the region cultivate resistant varieties. Approximately 75% of the coffee fields in the region are planted with Castillo, Colombia and Tabi varieties. About 55% of coffee farmers in Santander have less than one hectare under coffee cultivation. When taking into account the larger farms in the region, the farm size regional average is about 4.3 hectares. 

On the smaller farms, all labor is done by the family. Most of these small farms do not have their own processing unit. So, after a day’s harvest, the family brings the cherries to a local cherry collection center. Cherry will then be transported at least once a day to a central processing point, where it will be pulped, fermented and dried. Often, in this region, parchment will be dried using mechanical driers.