Coffee cherries in Quindío, Colombia

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Beans or cherries?. It’s Coffee Day

These coffee cherries are from Colombia’s Coffee Triangle, where coffee trees flourish among some of the tallest palm trees you'll ever see. The cherries take several months to mature. As they ripen, they change colour from bright green to dark red. The dark red cherries are perfect for picking. Once the cherries are picked, the fruit surrounding the seeds (or beans) is removed, then the beans are cleaned and eventually roasted. Colombian coffee is regarded as being among the best in the world.

Today, on International Coffee Day, we’re not only taking a sip of the most popular beverage in the world, we’re also considering the farmers who make it all happen. In Colombia, about 500,000 families get most of their income from growing coffee. They’ve been represented by the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia since 1927. The organisation helps contribute to sustainable development by creating trading partnerships that are better for the growers. Let's drink to that.