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  • With their 536 points of purchase, they apply the purchase guarantee, the public good most valued by coffee growers.


Bogotá, June 13, 2018 (FNC Press Office) – In 2017, the country’s 33 cooperatives of coffee farmers allocated 42.1 billion pesos ($14.3 million) to social investment in their associates (equivalent to paying an additional premium of COP 14,859/load), confirming the great role they play in sustainability of the coffee sector.

With their 536 points of purchase throughout the country, the cooperatives affiliated to the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) apply the purchase guarantee, the public good most valued by coffee farmers because it allows them to sell their coffee at the best possible base price, in cash and in places close to their farms.

“The cooperatives are the FNC’s great ally in implementing the purchase guarantee, which benefits all producers, and in contributing to improve their income. In many cases, because of their great social contribution, they are the great buffer that coffee growers have to move forward,” the FNC CEO, Roberto Vélez, said.

Support in formal and non-formal education, voluntary contributions for retirement (BEPS), aid, insurance, healthcare, discounts in fertilizers and the social, production and labor components of the sustainability premium of the Fair Trade FLO standard are the main allocation items.

On the other hand, in 2017 the cooperatives’ stores sold 4.8 million 50-kg bags of fertilizers, making procurement of production inputs easier for coffee growers.

Coffee load bought on average at COP 913,164

With the purchase of 354 million kg of dry parchment coffee (dpc) for about 2.6 trillion pesos (about $881 million), in 2017 the country’s 33 cooperatives paid on average COP 913,164 for the coffee load, up 11.6% from the average base price of COP 818,148 per load.

“This confirms the key role that cooperatives play in the coffee institutions’ great purpose of improving coffee farmers’ profitability,” Vélez noted.

With the equivalent purchase of 4.7 million 60-kg bags, the purchases by the 33 cooperatives sponsored by the FNC accounted for 33% of national production last year.

Of these, differentiated coffee accounted for 207.9 million kg or 58.7% (mostly FLO and Nespresso standards), very tuned with specialty coffee production to help coffee growers climb the value chain.

Of all coffee purchased, the cooperatives sold 40.7% to the National Coffee Fund (FoNC) and 31.6% to the exporting company of the cooperatives themselves, Expocafé.

In 2017, by type of coffee, 155.77 million kg of dpc (44%) was sold as excelso and 4.7 million kg of dpc (1.33%) as 4,105 microlots (each of 13 bags on average), a high-value segment very demanded by customers and consumers who bet on quality and differentiation, still with plenty of room to continue growing and increase profitability of producers.