COLOMBIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Maryna Pogibko, Rafat A Rizvi and Mykhailo Grydzhuk, Amadeus
that cacao bean and derived product exports reached 42,100 tonnes in 2024, with processed cacao-related exports worth approximately USD200 million. The increase in exports was aided by reduced supply from Africa and higher global prices. The market backdrop is also supportive to Colombia’s aims. The International Cocoa Organisation reported that the 2023/24 cocoa season closed with a sub- stantial deficit of 489,000 tonnes, while the World Bank noted that coffee and cocoa prices surged amid weather-related supply shortfalls before beginning to moderate. For a country such as Colombia, which still has significant room to expand legal cacao produc- tion and processing, that combination of constrained global supply and buyers seeking (and paying for) premium product at premium prices is highly com- mercially attractive. Coffee is equally as important, but for different rea- sons, as Colombia is already a mature, globally rec- ognised origin with brand value, export infrastructure and a deep producer base. The USDA coffee report of 16 May 2025 indicates that Colombian coffee exports were expected to reach 11.8 million bags in the 2025/2026 marketing year. The United States remains the top export destination with a market share of over 40%, and approximately 40% of Colombian coffee production is considered specialty coffee, thereby benefitting from price premiums. This matters because crop-substitution is far more likely to endure when it is linked to products that already have global demand, commercial familiarity and are recognised as premium segments. In practice, lawful replacement crops do not need to be limited to raw agricultural commodities. The most compelling opportunities often lie in value-added outputs such as cocoa butter, cocoa paste, cocoa liquor, roasted or ground coffee, branded specialty products and other processed food ingredients where margins are better than for undifferentiated bulk output. Why this is not only an agricultural story It is worth noting that Colombia’s new strategy is not merely an agriculture play. It is an alignment exercise across trade, compliance, security, land, labour and state engagement, with a correspondingly important
legal landscape. Businesses that approach Colom- bia’s crop-substitution-linked opportunities as if they were ordinary farmland transactions are likely to mis- price the risk. Land and title discipline matter. This policy direction places land formalisation and land reform at the centre of rural development, not least as international devel- opment institutions continue to stress that secure land tenure is essential for investment, rural transformation and biodiversity protection. The World Bank’s Novem- ber 2025 loan to expand the multipurpose cadastre (in effect a modernised system for mapping land parcels and recording rights over them), is another sign that land administration and clarity of rights are now part of the investment equation. Security concerns remain real. In the March 2026 U.S. Department of Commerce’s Colombia Country Com- mercial Guide, it is noted that narco-criminal opera- tions continue to threaten commercial activity and investment, especially in rural zones outside govern- ment control, and that illicit economies can become entangled with legal supply chains. Any serious mar- ket entry strategy therefore requires enhanced dili- gence on counterparties, routes, local partners and territorial conditions. In addition, compliance is becoming more demanding at the export end. The OECD’s February 2026 paper on the Colombian cocoa sector stresses growing expectations around sustainability credentials, trace- ability and certification. The EU has also postponed the main obligations under the Deforestation Regu- lation to 30 December 2026 (for large and medium operators) and to 30 June 2027 (for micro and small operators), which gives businesses more time ‒ but not a basis for delay. Companies that build traceability only after securing production will almost certainly be too late. The practical business models The most credible entry routes are likely to be narrow- er and more structured than the generic “buy land in Colombia” rhetoric suggests. In the present environ- ment, several models stand out. The options include the following.
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