STiR coffee and tea magazine

STiR coffee and tea 33 At World of Coffee Bangkok in May, attendees lined up to taste a range of specialty Colombian coffees. Photo credit: Diana Jendoubi Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) 2026 Educator of the Year and CEO of Tecnicafé, Javier Hoyos Garcia, explains how postharvest education is reshaping generational perceptions around coffee farming in Colombia. Photo credit: Coffee Quality Institute bia — a fourth-generation family farm that only recently shifted to experimen- tal processing. The signal was clear. Producers across Huila, Tolima, Cauca, Nariño, and Cundinamarca are now experimenting with anaerobic fermenta- tions, yeast inoculations, co-fermentation with tropical fruit pulp and mosto, and increasingly sophisticated drying protocols — processing approaches that would have been unthinkable under the FNC's traditional quality framework just a decade ago. The economic logic is hard to ignore. At the 2025 Colombia, Tierra de Di- versidad auction, the average price reached $34.58 per pound, while top lots surpassed $105 per pound. Regional competitions in Tolima, Huila, Cauca, and Cundinamarca achieved prices ranging from $32 to $72 per pound. The FNC's own Craft Coffees strategy reflects this momentum. Craft cof- fee sales grew nearly 69% between January and September 2025, reaching 36,106 bags. More broadly, FNC data show that 65% of FNC-FoNC export sales in 2025 were value-added coffees — including sustainable, regional, standard-plus, and Craft categories. In an interview with STiR Coffee and Tea, Javier Hoyos Garcia, Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) 2026 Educator of the Year and CEO of Tecnicafé, explains that postharvest education aimed at producing and commercializing high-value coffees is also reshaping generational perceptions around coffee farming. After decades of working in knowledge transfer and skills devel- opment, Hoyos believes younger producers are increasingly drawn to the creativity, experimentation, and international exposure associated with high- sensory-value coffees. In his view, this renewed engagement is fostering a stronger sense of be- longing among younger generations within coffee-producing communities. More importantly, he believes coffee production can still provide not only meaningful economic and professional opportunities but also inspiration for younger producers. Hoyos also feels that Colombia's current wave of experi- mentation should not be viewed as a rupture from the country's traditional coffee systems. Instead, today's processing innovation builds on decades of accumulated institutional knowledge around quality, producer education, sen- sory analysis, and technical assistance. Consumer research supports this direction. Deloitte's 2024 Coffee Study, based on a survey of 7,000 coffee drinkers across 13 countries, also reports that millennials show the highest rates of awareness, trial, and adoption of specialty coffee among all generational cohorts — and that one in five young- er consumers follows influencer recommendations when selecting coffee, more than double the rate among older generations. Two Coffee Economies, One Industry Colombia is not transitioning from washed coffees to experimental ones. It is managing both simulta- neously — and the tensions this creates are real. As a board member of Tecnicafé and manager of the Post-Harvest Processing program at CQI, Yimara Martinez Agudelo has seen how education in postharvest processing can be a powerful tool for improving producers' livelihoods, enhancing coffee quality, and reducing risks. "If we can give producers the tools to diversify and commercial- ize their coffees more effectively, that's the goal," Martinez Agudelo told STiR. The daughter of smallholder coffee producers, Martínez Agudelo helped found and launch a cup- ping school called Más allá de un grano de café at a young age through the Federación Campesina del Cauca, an organization representing smallholder producers in the Cauca region. Through this initia- tive, she introduced more than 400 people to senso- ry analysis and coffee quality evaluation, reflecting her deep belief in the life-altering power of educa- tion. For her, the transformation currently taking place in Colombian coffee is not only technical or commercial, but also generational and cultural. That experience also shaped how Martínez Agudelo understands many of the quieter changes currently unfolding across Colombia's coffee sector. Large exporters continue to depend on con- sistency, scalability, and stable logistics. Smaller differentiated operations prioritize experimenta- tion, storytelling, and sensory novelty. Producers increasingly navigate both realities at once: the practical stability of traditional markets alongside the risks, potential visibility, and premiums associ- ated with differentiated coffees.

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