Coffee is one of those things that many people can’t live without. For some it’s a habit that gives the first push of a busy day. For others it’s part of a ritual, a grounding practice. And still for others it’s culture, a warm hug, a welcoming invitation. Just in the last five years I’ve grown into coffee. My interest piqued when I started traveling what I call my Latin American Adventure. Before then, I’d only drink it every once in a while. But with my travels brought a new interest and appreciation for this commodity. So it’s only natural that when I visited Medellín, Colombia, I thought I’d find a booming Colombian coffee culture. I expected great cafes laden with quality, interesting coffees. After all, the country is the world’s third largest coffee producer. But this is not what I found.
The city did not abound with cafes. Nor the hipster coffee culture that I had come to recognize in popular or trendy neighborhoods. My local friends helped me realize that Colombians don’t actually have access to the high-quality, highly sought-after coffee grown in their own backyard. This made me wonder about the things we value, the things we produce, and who gets access to what. It made me wonder about my relationship to coffee versus the average Colombian’s relationship. So I sought out some data.
Coffee as Ritual and Everyday Coffee Culture
I like my coffee black – no cream, no sugar. I don’t drink it everyday, so I consider it a treat. Coffee is part of my morning ritual when I’m spending time with my boyfriend. We put on music in the kitchen, either he or I make breakfast (depending on whose house we’re at), and he makes the coffee. We enjoy breakfast, our coffee, and our conversation.
He uses a french press to prepare the coffee. There are some staple brands that he likes. But he also joined the Atlas Coffee Club, which sends a bag of coffee from a new country/region each month. We’ve tried coffees from all over the world, including Colombia, and we love attempting to guess the tasting notes in the coffee before reading the provided descriptions. And we like learning about the industry in different places. That is also part of our ritual. I like my coffee black because I drink quality coffee. It doesn’t need anything added.
Speaking to my friends in Colombia, I learned that although coffee is integral to everyday life, they do not drink quality Colombian coffee. I was told that they mainly drink roasted coffee packaged from the stuff that didn’t make the cut to be exported to other parts of the world. Many Colombians drink coffee everyday, at home, prepared with a filter and taken with sugar. It’s seen as a basic kindness to offer it when someone visits your home. A “tinto” is a cup of black coffee similar to an Americano, served in a very small cup. It is a very common and big part of the culture, often signaling hospitality. There’s even a saying, “es tan tacaño que ni te ofrece un tinto”, which roughly translates to someone is so stingy that they didn’t even offer you a coffee.
My friend from Bogota told me that growing up, her family bought instant coffee because that is what was affordable and mostly available in the market. There were coffee shops, but they only sold tinto or cafe con leche. She said that as time passed, there was more of a “coffee culture” developing with more different kinds of preparations. When I asked her if coffee is important in Colombian life, she told me, “[It’s very important], but I think it’s become a bit “aspirational”: drinking award-winning coffees or those with flavor notes of this or that, when drinking tinto in the living room with your family or in the office with your coworkers is the traditional way.”
“Mucho, pero creo que se ha vuelto un poco “aspiracional”: tomar cafés premiados o con notas de sabor a esto o a aquello, cuando tomar tinto en la sala con tu familia o en la oficina con tus compañeros de trabajo es lo tradicional.”
When I learned about coffee culture in Colombia, it made me a little sad. I thought it a shame that local people cannot fully enjoy this world-renowned product that is produced in their own backyard. That that joy is aspirational or a status symbol and not just the norm. I wanted to understand more about the patterns of the industry in Colombia, and how consumers like the US fit into these patterns.
What the Data Says About Colombian Coffee Culture
Colombia is the world’s third largest coffee producer. It exports the majority of its production, marking a $2.5B industry (in 2023). The United States is by far the country’s largest importer, accounting for 44% of Colombia’s coffee exports.
A Little Bit About Coffee Trade and Quality
Coffee is sold in three main forms: green coffee beans (washed raw beans from farmers), roasted coffee (where roasting brings out flavor and aroma), and soluble (instant) coffee.
Most global coffee trade involves green coffee beans. They’re shelf-stable and easier to ship, but they generate lower profit margins than roasted coffee. In recent years, green beans made up 95% of Colombia’s coffee exports.
Roasted coffee delivers the highest profit margins. Companies in importing countries typically handle the roasting and branding, which keeps most of the value outside of producing countries like Colombia. Sellers usually roast it close to where it will be consumed, since roasted coffee has a shorter shelf life. This makes it less ideal for export.
Soluble coffee, dehydrated brewed coffee made mostly from lower-grade beans, offers convenience and a long shelf life. Mass-market consumers often buy it, and manufacturers enjoy high margins. Farmers, however, see very little of that value.
Consumption Trends
Before the late 90’s Colombia did not import any coffee. They began with a few thousand bags of roast and ground coffee. Eventually the country began importing un-roasted beans on a relatively volatile basis and a low level of soluble (instant) coffee on a more steady basis. The volatility of the volume of beans imported each year signals that the purpose may be to make up for some unmet need in the local market.
Historically on average, Colombia only consumes ~14% of what it produces, but that proportion has dipped and risen in cycles since 1960. In recent years consumption has been at or above 17.5%. And in the chart below we see that consumption of instant coffee compared to roasted has been on the rise. What does that say about Colombian coffee culture?
The data begs us to think about a few things:
- Are the consumption preferences of Colombians changing, or does the increase in consumption of instant coffee signal something going on with what’s available in the market
- The percent of domestic consumption has risen slightly in the last few years, which may indicate a bit of pressure on the market supply
- Does the fact that increasingly, domestic consumption is made up of instant coffee, support the idea of local Colombians being sold the worst quality coffee?
- Is the upswing in demand for imported coffee beans an effort to meet normal unmet local demand. Or is there an emerging market for good quality beans, signaling a change in local coffee culture? A change that may be unmet because the majority of Colombian beans are slated for export (presumably because export is more profitable)
The Market Context
As mentioned, Colombian coffee exports are a $2.5B dollar business, with the US accounting for the majority of that. The next biggest importer receives more than five times less than the US. So, as alluded to earlier, it’s probably more profitable to have strong export relations and partners than to sell beans for local consumption.
Below we see a comparison of estimated spending on coffee over the course of a year for Americans vs. Colombians. It helps us see what every person would be spending in the course of a year on coffee, if every person in the country spent on coffee. Per person spending in the US is 5x greater than in Colombia. So this clearly shows the high value that selling coffee in the U.S. garners.
Coffee Culture: Market vs Lived Realities
So what are the realities of the coffee industry juxtaposed with how we consume and relate to coffee? The market realities are this:
- coffee makes up ~7% of GDP for Colombia. It is a big business for the country.
- Foreign markets, particularly the US, are more lucrative than the local market due to higher demand and spending per capita. And although not indicated in this data, this may be due to specialty consumer tastes and preferences (although it’s worth noting that Colombian farmers probably do not reap the advantage of this).
- Colombians have always consumed a relatively stable proportion of what is grown in the country. At the turn of the century we see more imports, probably to make up for unmet demand in the local market
- Instant coffee consumption as a proportion of what is production has been on the rise. This could be due to lifestyle or preference changes. But I could also see it being due to market forces. Perhaps the quality standard of coffee beans has risen, causing an increased number of beans that don’t make the cut and are thus processed as instant coffee. Or some other market force at work such that instant coffee is more readily available and marketed to Colombians.
The lived realities are:
If we are to assume the prevailing narrative that Colombian locals mainly get access to just the low quality coffee produced in the country, and we feel that on some level this is not fair or right, then we have to contend with the forces of the market.
The U.S. commands attention and consideration from the coffee market due to how much coffee Americans like to consume and are willing to pay for. This gives me, an American, a level of privilege. I can wax poetic about my relationship to coffee, how I value quality and the stories behind its origin, and how it’s been incorporated as a special little ritual in my life because of that privilege.
On the other hand, although coffee consumption has been a steady part of Colombian life for decades, it has remained a simple product. Whether due to supply or what locals demand and are willing/able to pay for, the revenue potential for domestically sold coffee is considerably lower. And so Colombians make habit and ritual out of what is available to them — the beans that would not be able to compete or meet standards on the world market.
On one hand there’s a beauty in making everyday things a special part of the culture. But on the other hand, I think of the little joy that a well-roasted, good quality cup of coffee brings me. Black, no sugar. It just seems like that joy should be available to the peoples of the place where it was produced.
Data Sources
USDA Foreign Agricultural Services. https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/app/index.html#/app/downloads
World Integrated Trade Solution. https://wits.worldbank.org/trade/comtrade/en/country/COL/year/2023/tradeflow/Exports/partner/ALL/product/090111#
Statista. (August 29, 2024). Average per capita consumption volume of coffee in Colombia from 2019 to 2029, by type [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved July 19, 2025, from https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1454153/coffee-per-capita-consumption-in-colombia
Statista. (August 29, 2024). Per capita revenue of coffee in United States from 2019 to 2029, by segment (in U.S. dollars) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved July 19, 2025, from https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1331676/united-states-revenue-per-capita-of-coffee-market-by-type
