On 14 & 15 September, Producer Roaster Forum (PRF) returned to the Plaza Mayor venue in Medellín, Colombia. The two-day forum – which is the industry’s largest producer-focused event – saw more than 5,000 coffee professionals attend from around the world.

There were a number of activities held at PRF Colombia this year, including lectures and panels led by industry experts, as well as cuppings and workshops. Additionally, PRF Colombia hosted four diverse and unique coffee competitions – including the second edition of the groundbreaking Global Coffee Roasting Contest.

Read on to find out what happened at PRF Colombia, as well as when and where the next PRF event will take place.

Learn more about PRF Colombia here.

Hosting industry-leading events in producing countries

As with every PRF event, the goal is to drive green coffee sales in the host country and highlight Latin America as a leading international coffee knowledge hub. Moreover, with such a significant focus on producers, PRF ensures their voices and perspectives are at the forefront of some of the most pressing industry-wide conversations.

Martin Mayorga is the founder of Mayorga Coffee, which is the PRF Diamond Sponsor. At every PRF event, Mayorga Coffee sponsors around 500 smallholder farmers to attend the forum through its Beca Mayorga scholarship programme.

“PRF helps us to connect and talk to smallholder producers, who have been quite disconnected from the market,” he said at the event. “Here, we can do the most important thing, which is to start the conversation, because if we really want to create change and make an impact, we have to know what farmers’ goals are and the challenges they face.”

In line with its vision to host world-class events at origin, PRF Colombia is estimated to have generated business of more than US $12.5 million, with additional tourism spending of at least US $1.5 million – adding significant value to Colombia and its coffee sector.

Furthermore, the two-day forum generated over 300 jobs, and welcomed volunteers from 25 different countries.

More than 5,000 industry professionals from around the world – such as producers, roasters, baristas, and more – attended the event, including special guest Deputy President of Kenya Rigathi Gachagua.

“Colombia is a leader in coffee production, processing, and exporting to the world’s highest value markets,” His Excellency Rigathi Gachagua said at the event. “As Kenya traces its roots as a specialty coffee origin to [improve] sustainable profitability for our coffee farmers, we are participating in PRF Colombia to [embolden our efforts in] our reforms in the coffee sector.”

Lectures, speeches & panels

Alongside an extensive trade show exhibition, PRF Colombia hosted a series of speeches, lectures, and panels led by some of the industry’s leading experts – including 30 international and ten Colombian speakers.

Some of the lectures and speeches included:

• Beyond higher prices (Martin Mayorga – PRF Diamond Sponsor Mayorga Coffee, US)
• Embracing Latin American identity: Embedding culture into your business (José Guzmán – Kofra Coffee, UK)
• How to enhance aroma compounds during coffee processing & brewing (Sasa Sestic – ONA Coffee, Australia)
• Understanding what it takes to roast for competitions (Eduardo Choza – Mayorga Coffee, US)

PRF Official Finance Sponsor Bancolombia also gave a speech on day one of the forum.

Alongside insightful lectures, PRF Colombia also hosted several panel discussions over the two days, which included:

• Exploring the opportunities & challenges in sourcing competition coffees (Traci Armstrong – Balzac Brothers, US; Santiago Carvajal – Forest Coffee, Colombia, and Juan Díaz – KWC SPECIALITY COFFEE COLLECTIVE, US & Colombia)
• Bridging the age gap in coffee production: Success stories directly from origin (Ricardo Pereira & Nicholas Castellano – PRF Bronze Sponsor Ally Coffee, US; Julia Peixoto Peters – Peixoto Coffee, Brazil; Lucas Cuadros – Unblended Coffee, Colombia)

No Filter Panel series

On the morning of the second day at PRF Colombia, the No Filter panel series took place. This is a groundbreaking discussion platform for industry experts to have difficult and challenging – but also necessary – discussions.

This year’s No Filter Panel included three topics:

• Commercial or specialty: Which has a bigger impact on the producers’ livelihoods? (Rubén Gallozzi Cálix, Scarlette Soanny Zeron, and Luis Velez)
• What is more important: The price per pound or the cost of production? (Piotr Kotarba, Jonathan Moral, and Juan Ricardo Gómez)
• Beyond microlots: Every coffee has a market (Olga Cuellar Gomez, Francesco Sanapo, and Dale Harris)

Workshops & cuppings

PRF Colombia also included a number of interactive workshops and cuppings across both days.

On day one, several companies and organisations hosted workshops:

• Yeast manufacturer Selvatech
• Cold brew manufacturer Toddy
• Mayorga Coffee, which discussed its scholarship programme in a roundtable
• StoneX, which presented on “Coffee Prices’ Risk Management”

Day two, meanwhile, included workshops led by:

• Digital platform Trace.Coffee
• Sigma Advisors S.A.S, which discussed “The Plateau: The route to growing and financing your exports”
• Rainforest Alliance, which presented on “Current vision for the Rainforest Alliance Certification Program – More sustainability equals more benefits for farms”
• Investigación para la Conservación en el Neotrópico, which discussed its Bird Friendly Coffee Landscape Partnership
• International non-profit TechnoServe

Numerous cupping sessions were held in two dedicated rooms at PRF Colombia, sponsored by PRF Gold Sponsor MTPak Coffee – which is also the Official Education Sponsor for the event.

These sessions were hosted by:

• Ally Coffee
• Armonia by Promising Crops
• Global Cafés
• !Fest Coffee Mission
• Cooperativa de Caficultores del Cauca
• Colors of Nature SAS
• Kilometro Cero Coffee
• Glop Coffee Company
• Cooperativa Cafetalera San Miguelito Limitada COCASMIL
• Those Coffee People
• Lohas Beans
• Jaguara Coffee

Which competitions took place at PRF Colombia?

This year, PRF Colombia hosted three coffee championships, as well as the winner announcement for a fourth contest. Each competition assessed a broad range of skills and expertise, with the winners recognised and celebrated at the event.

Global Coffee Roasting Contest

Following the first edition of the Global Coffee Roasting Contest held in El Salvador earlier this year, the second iteration of the competition took place at PRF Colombia.

The competition has a unique judging format unlike any other in the coffee industry. In addition to a panel of judges who selected a technical winner, there was a final assessment round where all PRF Colombia attendees had the chance to vote for their favourite coffee at the Brew Bar (sponsored by Kofra Coffee, along with Official Espresso Bar sponsor Sanremo).

Specialty green coffee sourcing company !FEST Coffee Mission is the Official Roasting Sponsor for the Global Coffee Roasting Contest. Professional sample roaster manufacturer ROEST also provided equipment for the competition.

Alejandro Macías of Lusitania Coffee Co. in Colombia was the winner of the second Global Coffee Roasting Contest, and received a ROEST sample roaster. Alejandro Gonzales was also voted the people’s choice winner for the competition, and received a voucher for the SCA Coffee Skills Program.

Cold Brew Championship

The third edition of the Cold Brew Championship was held at PRF Colombia. Sixteen competitors went head-to-head to prepare two cold brew-based beverages for a panel of judges.

Toddy is the Official Cold Brew Sponsor for PRF, and supplied the competition equipment and prizes.

The winners of the Cold Brew Championship are:

• First place – Jean Pierre Acero Cechetti of Fecve Lab, Venezuela
• Second place – Nicolás Gonzales of Nebraska Café, Colombia
• Third place – Yeison Leandro Buitrago of Desarrolladores de Café, Colombia

Olla Coffee Championship

In partnership with Official Barista Sponsor Amor Perfecto, PRF hosted the third edition of Olla Coffee Championship (or Campeonato de Olla in Spanish). The competition celebrates and honours the Olla coffee pot – a traditional Latin American brewing method.

The winners are:

• First place – David Alejandro Galeano Díaz, Col-Spirit in Colombia
• Second place – Fernando Pedroza
• Third place – Nicolás Tovar

Fibtex Championship

Fibtex, which produces and distributes coffee packaging, created the competition to highlight and celebrate the hard work and dedication of Latin American producers who grow high-quality coffee.

Submitted green coffee samples were roasted and cupped prior to PRF Colombia. The winners of the Fibtex Championship are:

• First place – Zurcos Historia de Café in Colombia
• Second place – Erick Bravou of Finca El Chaferote in Colombia

In 2024, PRF will return to Guatemala on 7 & 8 March. The two-day forum was previously held there in 2019, and is once again expected to draw in thousands of attendees. 

Guatemalan Coffees will be the Official Host Country Sponsor for the event, which will take place at the Anacafé venue. More details about PRF Guatemala will be announced soon.

You can stay up to date with all announcements for PRF Colombia (including upcoming videos of lectures and panels) here, or by subscribing to the newsletter here.

Please note: PRF does not cover any travel, accommodation, or other costs for speakers and panellists.

Photo credits: Producer Roaster Forum

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