El Residente
12 The Coffee Story by Bob Normand
Coffee as Business Editor’s Note: A version of this article was previously published in the Golden Gringo Chronicles in August 2020. It is reprinted here with permission.
P
reviously (El Residente July/August 2020) I had written about the history and growth of coffee as a favorite beverage since its beginning long ago in Ethiopia. This time I look at the business of coffee and the effect it has had upon the world.
events historical and colorful, an example of the latter being the story of how coffee first got to Brazil.
Current consumption of coffee is estimated at 500 billion cups per year worldwide. That’s about 65 cups per capita for every country in the world, including those countries that don’t imbibe java.
BIG BUSINESS You may remember, as I pointed out, that the commercial trading of coffee represents the second greatest commodity value in the world after oil. The value of coffee is over USD $100 billion annually and includes a total export value of at least USD $20 billion. This is not small business! The table shows the current top ten producers of coffee by country. (I added little Costa Rica’s position at #15 as a comparison to some of the big boys.) Note that half of the top producers are Latin American countries: Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, and Guatemala. The 1700s proved to be pivotal in the development of the coffee business. Accompanying coffee’s growth were
AH, TOUJOUR L’AMOUR At the time, nearby French Guiana had begun producing coffee but the governor there would not share the seeds or plants with Brazil. So the Brazilian envoy managed to seduce the wife of the Governor of French Guiana and, as he departed to return home, the lady presented him with a rose bouquet in which there were, hidden in the petals, seeds of a coffee plant. Before long, Brazil became a major producer of coffee; and it still is numero uno.
