Introduction:The Colombia Land of Diversity (LOD) Competition is an internationally acclaimed specialty coffee event. The ninth edition attracted over a thousand growers from 13 regions, with a washed Geisha lot selling for an impressive $66.50 per pound. This article delves into the unique features of the LOD competition, how it differs from COE, and highlights the exciting features of the 2025 tenth edition, helping you stay ahead of global specialty coffee trends.
The Colombia Land of Diversity (LOD) Competition is the country’s flagship national coffee quality contest, standing alongside the well-known COE and BOP as one of the world’s premier coffee evaluation events. The recently concluded ninth edition saw over 1,018 submissions from growers across 13 Colombian regions. After two rigorous rounds of selection, 30 outstanding coffees advanced to the finals, with a washed Geisha from the department of Nariño claiming the top spot at an astonishing $66.50 per pound.
Beyond crowning top lots, the competition also awarded five specialty accolades: Best Acidity, Best Body, Best Softness, Best Balance, and Best Unique Flavor, showcasing the remarkable diversity of Colombian coffee. The auction was conducted through both online and offline channels, with a total of 546 bids placed. The average price reached $20.06 per pound, and the overall transaction value amounted to $375,637.01, reflecting strong international interest in Colombia’s specialty offerings.
Many coffee enthusiasts or industry professionals may wonder: what exactly is the LOD? In short, it is a national-level coffee competition on par with COE (Cup of Excellence) and BOP (Best of Panama), though it was established later. Colombia has been hosting the COE since 2005, but in 2016, the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) decided to create the LOD independently to more comprehensively highlight the nation’s diverse coffee flavors and regional characteristics.
Today, LOD has become a key initiative within the FNC’s strategy, aiming to elevate the quality and added value of Colombian coffee across the entire supply chain, while emphasizing the country’s rich flavor diversity to further attract global specialty coffee markets. Ultimately, it seeks to help coffee farmers increase their income. Through this competition, Colombia hopes to show the world that it offers much more than just traditional varieties like Caturra or Catuai — there is also a wealth of potential micro-lots and uniquely processed coffees.
Coffee in Colombia is primarily grown in the Andean highlands of the central and western regions, formed by the Eastern, Central, and Western Cordilleras, with altitudes averaging over 3,000 meters and dotted with active or dormant volcanoes. The unique elevation and terrain create diverse microclimates, enabling nearly year-round coffee harvests across different regions and varieties. This is also one of the key reasons why LOD can segment competitions according to harvest seasons.
The LOD competition is scheduled according to Colombia’s two main coffee harvest seasons: one held annually between March and April, evaluating coffees harvested from September to December of the previous year; the next takes place between September and October, focusing on lots harvested between May and August. This arrangement allows central and northern regions, as well as central and southern areas, to take turns showcasing their beans, fully representing the country’s coffee diversity. Compared to COE, which is held only once a year, LOD’s dual-season format covers more regions and prevents some high-quality coffees from missing the international stage due to timing issues.
Notably, the FNC recently announced that the 2024 COE competition will be postponed to the first half of 2025, which is expected to give more previously unrepresented regions a chance to shine, further showcasing the richness of Colombian coffee. Since its inception, LOD has featured multiple awards, not only selecting an overall champion but also dividing competitions into larger and smaller batch categories based on coffee characteristics. This design stems from Colombia’s unique agricultural background — years of conflict led to the abandonment of many coffee farms, and later the government divided land into small plots, selling them cheaply to farmers, resulting in the smallholder-dominated industry structure seen today.
LOD’s larger batch competition targets coffees produced by large estates, with a “Best Estate” award offering a prize of 25 million Colombian pesos. The smaller batch category is aimed at smallholders or small farms, with five separate awards for Best Acidity, Best Body, Best Softness, Best Balance, and Best Unique Flavor. All winning lots must pass evaluations by both domestic and international expert judges to ensure their quality and flavor profiles meet international standards before entering the auction process.
The FNC also announced that the tenth edition of the Land of Diversity LOD Competition in 2025 will be held in March in northern Colombia, with high-quality coffees expected from regions such as Santander and Antioquia. These areas, blessed with unique geography and microclimates, have long produced distinctive and flavorful coffee varieties, and are sure to bring more surprises to global buyers.
In summary, the Colombia LOD Competition is not only a platform for selecting premium coffee, but also an important window into the country’s coffee diversity and regional potential. From its competition format and rotating regional focus to its variety of awards, LOD provides a complementary international stage to COE, helping Colombian coffee farmers boost their incomes while allowing global consumers to enjoy a richer array of coffee flavors. For coffee professionals or enthusiasts, understanding the dynamics and characteristics of LOD is undoubtedly a key to gaining deeper insight into Colombia’s specialty coffee scene.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
