From washed to co-fermented – Colombia’s shift in coffee strategy
Sarah Charles
December 9, 2025
coffee colombia with fruit
Colombia, long the world’s champion of washed coffees, has become the global hub for co-ferments and experimental lots
This is a dramatic break from decades of FNC orthodoxy
At the 2025 Global Coffee Awards, Colombian producers dominated the experimental categories
FOR decades Colombia’s coffee identity rested on one idea: washed coffees – or “milds,” as they are known to traders.
The Federación Nacional de Cafeteros (FNC), the country’s powerful coffee institution, spent years standardising quality, enforcing processing norms and marketing the “100% Colombia” arabica coffee as having a rich taste, a clean cup, and dependable, consistent quality.
The FNC’s buying mechanisms were designed around washed coffee production.
Naturals and honeys were discouraged; for years, a natural coffee could even be classified as a defect and forced into lower-priced export streams. Washed processing dominated because it guaranteed clean, balanced cups – while naturals and honeys remained niche or carried risk.
That model worked. Colombia became the world’s third-largest producer and the largest supplier of washed arabica. At the end of 2019, the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros (FNC) reported that Colombia was the world’s largest producer of mild washed arabica coffees. Its brand identity – unlike the wild naturals of Ethiopia or the heavy-bodied robustas of Asia – was built on predictability. Then, suddenly, the ground shifted.
“Colombia has long been recognised as a leading source of high-quality mild washed coffees,” says Maria Alejandra Olano, senior coffee trader at Federación Nacional de Cafeteros. “However, demand has evolved, and many consumers are now looking for new flavours and experiences around coffee. That is why, at Cenicafé – Colombian coffee growers coffee research center — we have been studying different processing methods for years, and how fermentation naturally highlights and enhances the flavours of coffee and its terroir.”
In the last five years, while washed coffees remain at the core of Colombia’s exports, the country has gained a reputation for producing exceptional co-fermented, infused and experimental coffees, producing some of the wildest flavour profiles on the competition circuit. At the 2025 Global Coffee Awards, Colombian lots dominated the “experimental” categories. Among them was a lot that combines anaerobic red honey with carbonic maceration from Café Primitivo in Colombia, processed under fermentative conditions that would once have horrified traditional cuppers.
Colombia built its historic reputation on clean cups, but has now become a successful test lab for fermentation.
“Over the past decades, traditional washed coffees have not been covering the cost of production, and for many rural families this became a direct cause of poverty,” says Ana María Donneys, Manager of Café Primitivo in Colombia.
“A generational shift combined with the possibility of direct exports and direct relationships with roasters around the world opened the door for innovation. Producers like us began exploring new protocols, fermentation techniques, and quality improvements as a way to create differentiated products with real negotiation power. The more unique the cup, the more we can set prices that allow us to survive.”
“This movement has also ignited a passion in younger producers. Many of us fell in love with the science behind fermentation, microbiology, and processing. It showed us that there is a future in coffee, that innovation belongs in the farm, and that we can create something new. From my perspective, all of this is just beginning.”
The FNC has taken note. Officials have begun a restructuring of internal guidelines and quality classifications to accommodate new processes. One example of this is their recent landmark agreement with the Specialty Coffee Association – an institutional acknowledgement that Colombian coffees are no longer judged solely by traditional washed-coffee criteria.
“We’re seeing a younger generation of producers eager to diversify their profiles – sometimes through traditional processing techniques, different varieties and other times by treating their farms and labs as experimental spaces and with outstanding coffee results,” says Maria. “This trend is driving greater diversification of Colombian coffee and opening new value opportunities for the producers.”
How Colombia became a fermentation laboratory
Several forces converged to make the country the ideal test bed for experimental processing. First, market pressure.
In an era of fierce global competition and rising costs, traditional washed Colombians have struggled to command the premiums they once did. Across Europe and Asia, roasters increasingly prize intensity: big aromatics, heavy fruit, sensory novelty. Co-fermentation offers exactly that. A mid-80s washed lot can become a “competition coffee” with the right yeast, tank and know-how.
“For me, it goes far beyond changing consumer preferences,” says Ana. “Globally, most coffee consumption still focuses on traditional washed coffees. Experimental lots are a very small percentage of the market, even if they gather a lot of attention.”
“Experimentation has become, above all, an economic strategy for producers seeking sustainability. At the same time, many of us have discovered the inner workings of the coffee fruit: the chemistry, the microbiology, the transformations during fermentation. These tools were once inaccessible to producers, and now they’re part of our daily work.”
Producers who used to fight for a 3% premium now see the possibility of doubling their income – economics speak louder than tradition.
Second, Colombia has the infrastructure. With over 560,000 smallholder farmers and one of the world’s best-developed agricultural extension systems, experimentation spreads quickly. Once a handful of producers began working with controlled yeasts, fruit adjuncts and sequential fermentation, neighbours followed.
Third, the generational shift. Younger producers – often university-educated, digitally connected and fluent in specialty-coffee culture – are more willing to break with orthodoxy. They are not as beholden to the country’s decades-old identity script.
“I’m a fifth-generation producer, and my generation is the first one in my family to roast coffee, to taste our own terroir, and to understand how processing can transform it,” says Ana.
“That alone shows how recent – and how powerful – this shift is. The specialty market has been increasingly open to these innovations, which has helped many families stay in coffee. It’s both a necessity for producers, and a response to a market willing to explore new sensory experiences.”
Finally, global demand. The boom in co-ferments parallels a growth of the Asian coffee market, who have different consumer preferences. China was Colombia’s 18th export destination in 2019. It became the sixth-largest export destination by 2023. The Middle East is another growing coffee market showing interest in experimental coffees.
“Both economic opportunity and shifting expectations in international markets are shifting the evolution of Colombian coffee,” says Maria. “This shift represents a valuable opportunity to reach new markets through differentiated processes, including co-fermented and infused coffees. We see strong demand, for example, in the Middle East, where buyers actively seek distinctive flavor profiles tailored to specific moments of the day.”
“These processed coffees are often easier for new consumers to understand and enjoy, creating a gateway that can later lead them toward more traditional profiles. This opportunity is also being driven by higher prices, greater added value, and the ability to customise the product to specific market expectations with higher returns for producers. That’s why producers are adapting their infrastructure and technical knowledge to meet this demand at scale. In this sense, innovation is a response to clear price incentives and to the broader evolution of global expectations around what specialty coffee can be.”
Colombia, geographically stable and logistically well-connected, is well placed to serve this demand.
colombian coffee farmer
The global implications – opportunity and tension
Colombia’s evolution matters not only domestically. It signals a turning point for the global industry.
It challenges the definition of “quality.” A washed Colombia used to be the global reference point for balance and clarity. Today that standard is being rewritten by producers fermenting with fruit pulp, must (mosto), inoculated yeasts or controlled microbial cultures.
The Specialty Coffee Association still disqualifies artificially flavoured coffees, but the boundary between “infused” and “co-fermented” is porous. Many lots labelled “experimental” share characteristics once associated with flavoured beans. This creates unease among traditionalists.
It also raises questions for institutions like the FNC. For decades, the FNC protected Colombia’s washed identity because it provided stability. Co-ferments do the opposite: they introduce variability, risk and inconsistency. Colombia could arguably lose its historical brand equity.
Conversely for many, standing still is not an option. The institution now faces an identity crossroads: defend the old definition of “Colombian coffee” – or embrace a new, more diverse and unpredictable one.
“Our role at the FNC is to support Colombian coffee growers wherever we see strategic opportunity,” says Maria. “We support different processes, varieties, co-fermented and infused coffees when markets request them. We believe that with full transparency around processes and clear communication to the final consumer, there is strong potential to expand the diversity of Colombian coffee.”
“At the same time, we know Colombia will continue producing exceptional washed coffees. We’re also supporting innovation: this year Cenicafé launched four new varieties – Celestra, Castalia, Cocoon, and Castillo 2.0 – developed to offer more diversity in cup profiles and specific characteristics that consumers are looking for. We’re confident these varieties will perform exceptionally well as washed coffees, as well as under other processing methods.”
“Looking ahead, we’re really excited about the evolution and curiosity we’re seeing in Colombian coffee growers. We’re ready to jump into new trends and create more coffee experiences that can help producers to keep improving their profitability.”
From a producer perspective, the role of the FNC is navigating this shift remains instrumental.
“The FNC has been essential for Colombia’s rural development,” says Ana. “Its work has provided stability, infrastructure, and technical support for thousands of families. Today, I see a Federation more open to recognizing what is happening at the origin: innovation led by producers. At the same time, they must communicate responsibly to more than 350,000 coffee-growing families, many of whom cannot assume the economic risks of experimental fermentations.”
“Innovation involves losing lots, starting over, investing time and resources, and not everyone can afford that. This is why I deeply value the producers pushing these boundaries. Behind every inoculated, co-fermented, infused, or experimental coffee, there are years of trial and error, financial loss, learning, and perseverance.”
Colombia’s shift could encourage other producer countries to follow suit. In Kenya, for example, experimental processing still struggles against institutional resistance. But Colombia’s success is softening views.
“Like Colombia, Kenya increasingly has coffee cherries available most of the year,” says Marty Pollack, Co-Founder and CEO at Torch Coffee. “That creates a natural incubator for experimentation – you can test, learn, and refine continuously. It’s one of the reasons Colombia became such a hotbed of innovation so quickly, and it’s a dynamic we’re now beginning to see in Kenya too.”
“Kenya was once strictly a washed-coffee origin. Naturals and honeys weren’t even allowed in the auction system. Now, demand and incentives for experimental processing are growing exponentially. Just two years ago, we struggled to fill a single container of experimental coffees. Today, co-ops across the country are asking us to help them try new methods. There’s a huge appetite – but also a huge knowledge gap. Without proper training, these fermentations can go off the rails. The risk is real, but so is the opportunity.”
“My prediction? In the next three to five years, Kenya will see a major surge in experimental processing. It may not move as fast as Colombia, but the trajectory is clear.”
If Colombia – one of the world’s most conservative washed-coffee originators – can pivot, then Guatemala, Peru or even Kenya may feel emboldened.
Finally, consumers will feel the effects. More experimental coffees mean higher price ceilings, more competition for attention, and a broader flavour spectrum on café menus. But they may also make sourcing riskier. Ferment-heavy lots can be unstable, and some importers fear a bubble.
“What I think Colombia needs is balance: to preserve our historic strength in clean washed coffees, which remain our identity and the backbone of the industry, and to give space and legitimacy to innovation, which is helping position Colombia as one of the most dynamic origins globally,” says Ana.
“Innovation doesn’t threaten tradition; it complements it. And it’s inspiring a new generation to stay in coffee and continue a legacy that has shaped our country for generations.”
Even so, the direction of travel is clear: Colombia is no longer defined by “bright, clean washed coffees.” It is now defined by possibility. The country that once exported naturals as defects is now exporting them as winners. Colombia has rewritten the rules of what Colombian coffee can be.
Coffee Intelligence