Where Is Our Coffee Coming From?

Were you ever curious to look up how long your coffee travelled just to get to your cup? If you are a heavy drinker, think about it this way: how much coffee do you consume everyday? How many bags or tins of coffee did you buy last year? I'm sure it is not a small number. Now add up every cup of coffee you've ever had, and think about how many beans were needed. And this is your case only. What about all the other coffee drinkers around the world? What about the coffee shops?

#1:

Well, someone needs to provide all of this, and, of course, someone needs to be at the top. As you might expect, this is Brazil's case, with a whopping over 2 and a half million tons per year, which are mostly Arabica varieties, as the statistics of 2019 say. If you have a hard time picturing that, it roughly translates into 44 million bags, 60 kilograms each. But this is actually not that much, when you think about the fact that Brazil represents only 35% of the world coffee market, being the first ones the U.S. relies on for their cup of Joe. I know, mind blown. And this is still not all! Brazilian farmers don't even pick the entirety of the beans from one bush, so, in reality, Brazil's capacity is much larger.

#2:

Our second place winner is Vietnam, who only has half of Brazil's capacity, but it is still a number hard to miss: over 1 and a half million tons. Again, this is around 27-28 million bags of 60 kilograms each, every year. Even though this represents only approximately 22% of the world coffee market, there are 2.6 million people in Vietnam whose livelihood relies on the coffee industry. Overall, the most common variety produced is Robusta.

03, with just a touch of Arabica. The Vietnamese are so passionate about their coffee business, that in the city of Saigon, not only is there a coffee place every two steps, the local entrepreneurs saved a nine-story block from demolition, opening a different cafe on each floor. Worth the climb?

#3:

We can't forget about our third best friend, Colombia, who provides us with 810 thousand tons of coffee, meaning about 13 and a half million bags. Considering this, Colombia owns up to 6% of the world coffee market, providing us with a bit of every variety. We know that even though their numbers aren't so high compared to the rest of the world, this doesn't mean that they don't take coffee seriously. Their economy revolves mostly around coffee export with about 875.000 planted hectares and, surprisingly, this number is made up from many little farmers who each have a patch to cultivate. This happens because the environment does not escape Colombians' minds, even when they depend on this business. They learned that big plantations aren't sustainable, as the soil ends up damaged. They are by far the ones that included coffee in their identity the most.  

#4:

The fourth place is taken by Indonesia, who is responsible for 666 thousand tons, so 11 million bags and is the proud owner of 6% of the market. A pretty common variety here is Arabica, mostly because in the early beginnings Indonesia used to have a 100% production of it. Unfortunately, a common illness between coffee plants, leaf rust, took over all their hard work and farmers started to slowly, but surely, replace Arabica with Robusta, the original variety representing now only 25% of the harvest. In a situation similar to Colombia, they also avoid big plantations, as they rely more on individual farmers with small crops. What makes Indonesia stand out is the fact that they produce the world's most expensive, and famous, coffee, luwak coffee. 

#5:

Ethiopia stands proudly in the fifth place and contributes with 380 thousand tons, or 6.400.000 bags, and is just behind Indonesia when it comes to percentages, owning 5% of the market, but we shouldn't be quick to judge. The numbers might not be as impressive, but we mustn't forget that this place is widely considered the birthplace of coffee, with approximately 15 million people depending financially from this trade. Here, we mostly encounter Arabica, but what makes Ethiopia even more special is that even though they don't have the largest production, they have the best one, with the most intricate flavours and aromas found anywhere in the world. And when you think about the fact that there are many other varieties that still haven't been discovered, well… we can only dream.

So, what do you think? Have you ever considered how big this industry is? What we just talked about is only the tip of the iceberg, as there are many other countries that have an important role in the production and distribution of coffee worldwide.