Belco Colombia agency

Identity record

Towards the end of 2020, the company Belco Colombia SAS (a subsidiary of Belco SAS) was legally created, being January 2022 the start date of operations of this Agency.

The office is located in the heart of Colombia, a strategic site in the Eje Cafetero, the city of Armenia (Quindío), an obligatory logistic step of much of the coffee that goes to the port of Buenaventura, near the main cities, the capital Bogota, with very good transportation and telecommunications connections. This was the place chosen to develop our activities, the meeting place, the place where a great work team would be formed.

City
Armenia, Quindío
year of creation
2020
Effective
7

“Our job is to increase the value and sustainability of our business in Colombia. We’re not superheroes out to save the world, we’re simply drivers of change. We pursue an approach that places producers and roasters at its centre.”
Diego Zamora
Directeur Belco Colombia

What we offer is quite simple...

“If coffee producers receive a fair price for their coffee, if they can make their business economically sustainable, if they receive training on how to protect their environment and produce and recognise the best coffees, and if their families live in good social conditions, then the coffee can only be excellent.”

To make this proposal work, we needed to shake up a few ideas and be present on the ground at all times:

We’re not simply chasing microlots with a 90+ SCA score. We want to introduce good processes and add value to the chain.
Anaerobic fermentation from exotic varieties such as Geisha and Sudan Rume is not the only way to achieve an outstanding cup of coffee. We believe there are lots of variables that make a good cup, including climate, soil, shade in the plantation, variety, altitude and terroir. The idea is to understand and identify some of these variables and then use them to improve quality while also increasing productivity.
There are more ways of increasing productivity per hectare than by simply cutting shade trees to expose coffee to the sun. Farmers need to receive training to maintain and boost productivity while improving and caring for their environment, mainly through reforestation with native shade trees.
To make a social impact, it’s not enough simply to give local communities money. What they really need is training to learn about new technologies and improve their quality of life.

Our team on the ground

Diego

Branch Manager and Sourcing Director

“I don’t work in coffee, I have a passion for coffee, because I can use it to create benefits for everyone in the industry, and that’s what motivates me most.”

Diego is responsible for running the branch and finding sustainable coffee producers in Colombia and the Andean region (Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia) who meet our quality and environmentally-friendly farming specifications and who sell their coffee at a fair price.

Diego is a Q Grader.

Cesar’s love for the coffee industry stems from his cultural roots in the coffee-growing region of Quindio. He was born and raised there in the heyday of coffee production in the 1980s.

It’s his job to guarantee the physical and sensory quality of our coffees, by taking the necessary measures upstream, from the moment the cherries are harvested, to ensure clean production free from chemical inputs. Kévin helps César with his day-to-day work, receiving coffee samples, carrying out quality analyses, roasting, and maintaining the analysis equipment.

César is a Q Grader.

César

Quality Manager

Kévin

Quality Control Assistant

Monica

Transition Manager

Mónica is an agricultural engineer. She has worked in the coffee industry since 2010. She’s passionate about her job!

She helps producers reconnect with their production processes, from planting (analyzing the soil, climate, varieties, forest conditions, etc.) through to harvesting, to guarantee efficient use of natural resources based on scientific data and respect for natural life cycles.

Camilo brings over a decade of experience in the Colombian agri-food industry. He has solid expertise in marketing and developing agricultural products and in international logistics strategy.

He coordinates exports, manages Belco Colombia’s export supply chain, and heads the sail transport project for Colombia, where we expect to be able to ship coffees from August 2024.

Camilo

Supply Chain Manager

María Silvia

Marketing & Sales Support Manager

María Silvia fell in love with coffee growing in 2018, when fate decided that she move to the region.

She is responsible for connecting roasters and producers through actions taken by Belco at origin, in Colombia and throughout the Andean region. María Silvia manages customer visits in collaboration with the sales department as part of our customised sourcing initiative. She also collects all the necessary farm data to prepare our coffee fact files and ensure that our producers’ stories are translated as accurately as possible in your roasts.

Winnie is a chartered accountant by profession, she provides invaluable cross-disciplinary support within the branch.

She manages accounting and human resources and help organize events organization and administrative tasks.

Winnie

Administrative and Financial Assistant

Did you know?

01 / 04

Did you know that most of our farmers are small producers, cultivating less than two hectares of coffee?

Not only that, but for most producers coffee is their family’s only source of income. So they are particularly affected by low prices on the international market.

02 / 04

Did you know that Colombian coffee is produced in the mountains, and only at altitudes of between 1,500 and 2,000 metres?

Production costs are therefore higher than in other countries, because coffee grown in the mountains can be picked only by hand, not by machines. The poor condition and even lack of roads and the particularly isolated regions also make it one of the most expensive coffees. Yet farmers prefer to plant here because they know they will sell their coffee, given the very high demand in Colombia and its strong market.

03 / 04

Did you know that Colombian coffee is available all year round?

Colombia is one of the few countries able to produce coffee in two different seasons and in different regions, with the mitaca (small harvest) in the north and the main season in the south. This is why Colombia can always supply fresh coffee at all times of year.

04 / 04

Did you know that the coffee industry is the main source of work in Colombia’s rural areas?

Not only during the harvest, but also at other times of the year, caring for coffee trees as they grow, feeding them, controlling weeds, insects and pests, and carrying out renovation work and phytosanitary controls. Coffee is an important source of employment in farms as well as in towns and cities, with a huge impact on the economy and social life.

Sourcer's word

Our Belco Colombia team has developed activities that effectively and efficiently include everyone involved in the value chain, from the farm and producers through to coffee export. Our aim is to generate value and cultivate special relationships built on trust, that will develop and grow stronger over time. We have set up projects, programmes, training, coaching, knowledge-sharing initiatives, academic conferences, field visits, cuppings, internal (for our colleagues) and external (for our customers) visits in different regions, all in the name of Belco. 2021 has been a year rich in learning and experiences, which are helping us to develop our brand. Our branch is a useful platform for gaining a foothold in the Andean region, as a producer of specialty coffee in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela. Belco Colombia has been responsible for sourcing, quality and transition activities for these origins since 2022.

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Belco Colombia agency

Identity record

What we offer is quite simple...

To make this proposal work, we needed to shake up a few ideas and be present on the ground at all times: