Over one third of the world's population drinks coffee in some form, which makes coffee international trade’s most popular processed beverage.
In 2007, international coffee prices have recovered to some US$1.05 per pound from as low as $0.40 per pound in 2001. Coffee is a particularly problematic export when commodity prices are low. Coffee is a perennial crop that lasts for more than two growing seasons, which prevents coffee bean farmers from switching to an alternative harvest.
An estimated 125 million workers worldwide depend on coffee bean farming for their livelihoods. Coffee bean farmers are able to eke out an existence in countries like Brazil, where production costs are low, technologies are well-developed and exchange rates favour exports. However, many African and some Asian subsistence farms where coffee is a cash crop have less money available for spending on medicine, communications and education. Slower demand for coffee beans and lower commodity prices also hit Central American countries like Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica that depend on coffee exports especially hard.
Green Coffee Bean Exporters
The list below shows the ten leading countries for exporting unroasted coffee beans in 2004, the most recent year for which official statistics are available.
- Brazil … US$1,750 million (1,410,801 million tonnes; unit value $1,240)
- Colombia … $960,817 million (574,935 mt; unit value $1,671)
- Vietnam … $641,022 million (974,800 mt, unit value $658)
- Germany … $384,743 million (221,744 mt; unit value $1,735)
- Guatamala … $328,006 million (208,490 mt; $1,573)
- Peru … $289,903 million (191,124 mt; $1,517)
- Indonesia … $283,328 million (339,880 mt; $834)
- Honduras … $222,311 million (157,729 mt; $1,409)
- Costa Rica … $197,640 million (108,565 mt; $1,820)
- Mexico … $196,150 million (116,626 mt; $1,682)
The International Coffee Organization predicts that the most aggressive production growth will come from Asia and Africa by 2010, rather than South America.
Roasted Coffee Bean Exporters
Mechanical screening devices are used to clean and sort green coffee beans. By removing leaves, bark and other remaining debris from green coffee beans, these processes prepare the beans for roasting.
Beans are roasted in huge commercial roasters, darkening the color of the beans and giving them a crumbly texture. Roasted beans are then placed into a cooling vat where they are stirred while cold air is blown over them. High-quality, gourmet roasted beans that command the highest prices are also sent through an electronic sorter equipped to detect and eliminate roasted beans that are either too light or too dark.
The following list identifies the ten leading countries for exporting roasted coffee beans, again based on 2004 data.
- Italy … US$475.1 million (72,706 million tonnes; unit value $6,535)
- Germany … $313.1 million (97,218 mt; $3,220)
- United States … $221.5 million (44,397 mt; $4,988)
- Belgium … $214.7 million (58,350 mt; $3,679)
- Switzerland … $96.7 million (7,723 mt; $12,521)
- Canada … $85.9 million (19,149 mt; $4,486)
- Netherlands … $85.4 million (17,559 mt; $4,865)
- Austria … $77.6 million (27,356 mt; $2,836)
- France … $55.3 million (11,506 mt; $4,809)
- Denmark … $51.2 million (12,747 mt; $4,013)
Switzerland has the highest unit value for roasted coffee beans, suggesting that importers will pay a steep premium for gourmet roasted Swiss coffee beans.
Sources for this Article
This article presents independent calculations and insights based on data and graphics drawn from International Coffee Organization & the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations(fao.org).
