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Colombia
September 20th - 27th, 2014
Wednesday, 24th of September
As I said earlier, this was a little bit of heaven, sitting
on the veranda, cup of coffee in hand and just enjoying the
sounds of the wings of the birds....hard to capture them, they
were very active. After breakfast it was time for our coffee
tour reviewing the entire process of coffee in here which is a
major producer of coffee with 160 hectares of their 200 under
coffee production.
Historical data indicates that the Jesuits brought coffee seeds
to South America with them circa 1730. Tradition says that the
coffee seeds were brought by a traveler from Guyana who passed
through Venezuela before reaching Colombia. The oldest written
testimony of the presence of coffee in Colombia is attributed to
a Jesuit priest, José Gumilla. In his book The Orinoco
Illustrated (1730), he registered the presence of coffee in the
mission of Saint Teresa of Tabajé, near where the Meta river
empties into the Orinoco. Further testimony comes from the
archbishop-viceroy Caballero y Gongora (1787) who registered the
presence of the crop in the north east of the country near Giron
(Santander) and Muzo (Boyaca) in a report that he provided to
the Spanish authorities.
The first coffee crops were planted in the eastern part of the
country. In 1835 the first commercial production was registered
with 2,560 green coffee bags that were exported from the port of
Cucuta, near the border with Venezuela. A priest named Francisco
Romero is attributed to have been very influential in the
propagation of the crop in the northeast region of the country.
After hearing the confession of the parishioners of the town of
Salazar de la Palmas, he required as penance the cultivation of
coffee. Coffee became established in the departments of
Santander and North Santander, Cundinamarca, Antioquia, and the
historic region of Caldas.
Juan Valdez is a fictional character who has appeared in adverts
for the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia since
1958, representing a Colombian coffee farmer. The adverts were
designed by the Doyle Dane Bernbach ad agency, with the goal of
distinguishing 100%-Colombian coffee from coffee blended with
beans from other countries. He typically appears alongside his
mule Conchita, carrying sacks of harvested coffee beans. He has
become an icon for Colombia as well as coffee.
After our tour it was time to have lunch and get ready to leave
for Medellin. This trip for me was incredible and proves to me
countries like Colombia are definitely worth going to. There is
so much to experience and I have only had this tiny little bit
but I know there is much more to discover.
Now we are in Medellin at the Movich Hotel Las Lomas. It is
about 30 minutes or so from where our trade show is and 45
minutes to Medellin but very close to the airport.
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