If your Colombian coffee tastes a little sweeter (and cost a little more) from now on, this is probably why. On Wednesday, the Colombian government announced they will invest nearly 218 billion pesos ($64 million USD) in a coffee stabilization fund – intended to protect local coffee farmers in the country, according to Reuters.
The money will reportedly go towards providing financial stability and investing in technical resources to further increase production and quality. In turn, the hope is that the higher-paying, specialty coffee market will support the cause.
It’s still unclear how this would affect the price of your daily coffee. But, based on past suggestions from the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), $1.40 to $1.50 per pound, from its current $1.06, isn’t a stretch.
“This gives [farmers] certainty, and tranquility [in knowing] that their product has predetermined prices, so they can dedicate themselves to cultivating the best coffee in the world rather than worrying about the [industry’s] ups and downs,” said Alberto Carrasquilla, Minister of Finance.
Last year, Colombia had an excellent year in terms of productivity (the best of the last 27 years, in fact), but was affected by increasingly low commodity prices – which have been in flux, but overall significantly low in comparison to 2011. In other words, prices have declined, but production has risen. This fund will hopefully help balance that out.
Colombia is reportedly the world’s second-largest producer of arabica coffees and the world’s third-largest coffee producer overall (after Brazil and Vietnam).
Coffee isn’t our bread and butter per se, but it certainly is the perfect thing to pair that morning combo with and Colombia is one of its greatest sources. The fact that the government there recognizes that investing in, and protecting, the people nurturing it to perfection, is always a good thing and provides good reason for adding an extra pretty penny to the coffee jar.
