Where is your coffee from? Top five coffee producing countries in the world
Around two billion cups are consumed every day.
Britain is famous for being a nation of tea-drinkers – but coffee is fast becoming our beverage of choice, with more then 55 million cups drunk every day in the UK. Our cafe culture is booming, with 80% UK consumers visiting a coffee shop at least once a week – and the same percentage of Brits buying instant coffee for a quick fix at home.
Around 70 countries produce coffee and countless cities around the world have a cafe on every corner, trading in one of the top commodities worldwide.
Yet despite our love of coffee, many of us still don't know exactly where our drinks are coming from. Here are the five countries which produce the most coffee worldwide.
Brazil
Brazil is the world's largest producer of coffee and produced a staggering 43.2 million 60kg bags of coffee in 2015/16. The crop first arrived in Brazil in the 18th century and now the country produces around a third of the world's coffee exports.
Half of the coffee produced is grown in the Minas Gerais state in the southeast of the country, in a region spanning more than 2,000,000 acres. The state of Sao Paulo is one of the most traditional coffee-growing areas and the region is planted with thousands of acres of 100% Arabica coffee.
Vietnam
Think of coffee-growing countries, and Vietnam is not the first to come to mind. However, Vietnam is the second-largest coffee-producing country, producing 27.5 million 60kg bags in 2015/2016. Coffee was introduced to the country by the French in the 19th century and the industry now employs more than two million people.
One of the most popular and traditional Vietnamese coffees is drunk with condensed milk. A "ca phe trung" - a kind of Vietnamese cappuccino – is made with egg.
Colombia
Colombia, the third largest producer of coffee worldwide, produced 13.5 million 60kg bags in 2015/2016. All of the coffee in Colombia is Arabica and traditional varieties are Bourbon, Typica, and Caturra, a dwarf Bourbon.
Climate change is threatening coffee production in Colombia, however. Rising temperatures and altered rainfall patterns are impacting coffee yields, quality, pests and diseases, which is having a negative impact on the beans traditionally favoured in Colombia.
A report by Fairtrade published in August found climate change is increasingly becoming a burden on the health and well-being of coffee producers, labourers, and communities, which has consequences on productivity.
Indonesia
Indonesia is the fourth largest producer of coffee worldwide, producing 11 million 60kg bags in 2015/2016. It mainly exports Green Robusta coffee, which grows at altitudes between sea level and 600m and can cope with hot and humid climates.
Coffee production was introduced to the country by Dutch colonists. Now, more than 90% of the land allocated for crops is worked by small-scale producers.
One of the most famous coffees produced in Indonesia is Kopi Luwak, which is mainly produced on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi. It refers to the coffee that includes partially-digested coffee cherries eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet, a small, cat-like mammal.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia is the birthplace of Arabica coffee and is now the fifth largest producer, with around 6.4 million 60kg bags of coffee produced in 2015/2016. It is where the Coffea arabia – the coffee plant – originates. The country is home to some of the most diverse varieties of Arabica coffee in the world, such as Ethiopian Harrah - the coffee type produced in the world.
An estimated quarter of the population depends directly or indirectly on coffee for their livelihoods in Ethiopia. As is the case with Latin America, climate change is wreaking havoc on the industry, resulting in production decreases in certain areas.
Statistics are from the International Coffee Organisation.
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