GCC Harvest Update Fall 2021

As we begin October 2021, our team eagerly awaits this year’s main harvest. Cherries are finally ripening on all of the farms and the main wet mill processed around 80,000 kg of cherries last week alone. Although this is less than is typical by early harvest, the forecast remains strong for the rest of this year’s harvest.  

Coffee quality continues to surpass expectations, and the factor of parchment leaving the wet mills has continued to drop week over week in September. The Quality team is noting consistent cup scores around 84 with a profile of citrus acidity, florals, dark chocolate, red fruits, and medium body.  

All in all, this year’s harvest should yield around 7,000 bags of green coffee. The second half of October will welcome the most concentrated weeks of harvesting, where we anticipate well over 100,000 kg of cherries collected and processed per week. It is worth mentioning that this year’s weather was unusual for Colombia, and the rhythm of the harvest will also be atypical. 

A La Niña weather pattern generated the cool, rainy months that Salgar experienced earlier this year. This altered the course of this year’s harvest cycle in a way that our agronomists anticipate a prolonged collection period extending into January 2022 (rather than a concentrated peak). A hot, dry period triggers concentrated flowering, so without that opportunity, trees flowered sporadically during the wet months. These flowers are now fully developed cherries that will mature on an equally inconsistent timeline. 

The GCC is fortunate to have a dedicated year round team as well as regular seasonal workers to support our large operations. This year’s harvest will require a higher number of passes through each farm because cherries are maturing over a longer time period than normal. The production team is confident that our collection teams are capable of managing the farms accordingly, and we are excited to soon begin processing all of our coffee in the brand new wet mills, which are expected to open in October and December of this year.

We would be delighted to share our current crop with your team. Please email [email protected] for a sample of this year’s Estate Blend.