A Brief Guide To Coffee Production Around The Globe

Coffee is the third most consumed beverage around the world. It comes right after water and tea. With a café around every corner in cities across the world, it’s no wonder that coffee is liked by so many people. Such is its popularity that after oil, it’s the second-most exported and imported commodity on the planet. The best thing about coffee is that it can be grown almost anywhere, except in places where the weather conditions are just too harsh. In this post, we’d take a look at some of the different types of coffee and the major coffee exporters in the world.

Types of Coffee beans

Basically, there are three main types of coffee beans. Though there are a few other sub-types as well, these are the only main bean types.

• Liberica: This is a low-yield variety of coffee when compared to the other two main types.
• Robusta: This contains way more caffeine than the other two types and thus has a distinctly strong taste.
• Arabica: This has low caffeine but comes with a rich and smooth taste. It is more aromatic and thus contributes to about 80% of the coffee produced around the world.

The main coffee exporters of the world

• Brazil: Brazil is the world’s largest producer of coffee and has held the top position for over 150 years! It produces about 2,590,000 metric tons of coffee beans. Its major plantations are spread across the regions of Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Parana. The main reason behind Brazil’s coffee dominance is its climate and temperature, which is ideal for coffee production. That said, Brazil implements dry coffee production, instead of the wet method. The mass production of coffee and its export plays a pivotal role in Brazil’s economy. Coffee grown here has a nutty, soft, and a nice bittersweet chocolate taste. This is what makes it a perfect choice for flavored coffee or even homemade coffee.
• Vietnam: Producing more than 1,650,000 metric tons of coffee each year, puts Vietnam in the second spot of coffee-producing nations. Though the Vietnam War hampered the coffee business, the country quickly scaled up coffee production – from 6,000 tons in 1975 to about 2 million tons in 2016! Vietnam primarily produces the Robusta variety and is the largest producer and coffee exporter of the less expensive Robusta beans.
• Colombia: Colombia was once the second-largest producer and coffee exporters of the world, but the rapid expansion of coffee production in Vietnam, pushed Colombia to the third spot. Climate change has had some role to play in this as well. However, even now, coffee from Colombia is famous around the world. It produces about 810,000 metric tons of coffee per annum. A disease hit the Colombian coffee plants back in 2008 and 2009 due to heavy rains, which lowered its coffee production by 40%, but the country bounced back by replacing the coffee trees with rust-resistant varieties. The country is now the second-largest producer of Arabia beans.
• Indonesia: The country may not be very popular or among the top guns for producing coffee, but it still produced about 660,000 metric tons of coffee back in 2016. Indonesia’s location near the equator and its hilly regions make it a great location for the production of Robusta beans. In fact, over one million hectares of the land in Indonesia houses coffee plantations. Indonesia’s most famous variety of coffee is ‘kopi luwak’. This is also the most expensive and unique kind of coffee the world over as it’s harvested from the feces of Asian palm civets! It’s an intensive process that gives it a distinct and unique taste.
• Ethiopia: When it comes to coffee production in the lower ranks, there’s always some stiff competition around. Ethiopia has always held the fifth spot among the great coffee-producing countries but was edged past by Honduras in 2016-17. Ethiopia regained its position in 2018-19 and even now posts a healthy lead in coffee production over Honduras. Ethiopia is the largest producer of coffee in the African continent and has cemented its position as one of the top coffee exporters in the world today.

Key takeaway

Coffee beans really need lots of care and hard work to be grown perfectly and these countries seem to have perfected the art over the last many decades. This has helped them become the top coffee exporters around the globe. However, there are many other countries where coffee production is a significant business, though they may not be major exporters like Brazil, Colombia, and Vietnam. This list includes countries like Uganda, Honduras, India, Peru, and Mexico. The world is witnessing a steady growth in the production of coffee around the planet, and these countries have also ramped up production.

Coffee has been around for 1,200 or 1,300 years, but it feels as if it’s one of the oldest drinks humans have known. In fact, such is its popularity and demand that coffee is produced in 70 countries. The rise in coffee production has also led to a significant surge in demand for coffee products, however, we’d advise you to buy coffee only from renowned platforms so that you get nothing but the best products – 100% original Arabica coffee at the best rates possible.