The Embassy of Colombia brought Diego Campos, the 2021 World’s Best Barista, to Jakarta to strengthen the knowledge about the characteristics of Colombian coffee and the qualities that distinguish it and place it among the best coffees in the world. | Photos Embassy of Colombia.
After Latin America and Europe tours, Diego Campos, the first Colombian to receive the award for the Best Barista in the World at the HostMilano Italia Fair (2021), visited Jakarta for the first time in order to participate in various activities organized by the Embassy of Colombia.
But Diego is not only as a barista, he is also a coffee taster and roaster. He has worked since the beginning of his carreer in the world of coffee in the Colombian company Amor Perfecto. He has been the Barista National Champion in Colombia on three occasions (2014, 2016, and 2019), International Champion of the Fushan Cup of Barista (2017), and World Champion of Barista (2021).
His visit started on 21 November with a private talk addressed to the media and business people in the coffee sector, during which he presented the geographical characteristics and natural conditions such as altitude, latitude, and ideal temperature, characteristics that favour the production of Arabica coffee in his country.
“Colombia is crossed by three mountain ranges, which allows it to have 23 coffee-producing departments with a diversity of terrains and microclimates. This is as if we had 23 ‘countries’ in one, with the capacity to produce various coffee profiles. Additionally, in Colombia all coffee harvesting is done manually, which is reflected in the quality of the beans that is exported to the world.” Said Diego during his conference.
Diego also highlighted the social impact of this industry in his country. As he said that coffee in Colombia has a great social impact since around 543,000 Colombian families are dedicated to the cultivation of coffee and depend on this product.
“It is estimated that 3 million people in Colombia are directly linked to the coffee sector, much more than what soccer could generate in terms of employability and social impact.” Diego also pointed out that Colombia has been carrying out important initiatives to ensure that its coffee is recognized not only for its quality but also for its sustainability.
Through product traceability, Diego added, consumers know that the coffee they are buying was grown by a family that received fair compensation for its product. In this process, the National Federation of Coffee Growers, and the National Coffee Research Center (Cenicafe) play a very important role in accompanying coffee growers, facilitating access to varieties resistant to rust and better adapted to climatic variability, while promoting the best processing practices, with the aim of taking care of every detail of the process, to produce coffee of the highest quality and thus improve their income.
Diego’s visit to Jakarta also included classes for Indonesian baristas and private talks, during which he shared his experience as world champion and some tips on how to prepare a good coffee. Likewise, during the afternoon on 22 November, Diego took over the bar of the Excelso store in Central Park Mall to share with the coffee lovers six different varieties of Colombian coffee, specially selected for this occasion.
To conclude its visit, on 23 November a coffee tasting was held with Ubrukopi during which various coffees from Colombia and Indonesia were appreciated, with the aim to discover their characteristics and profiles.
