A day without coffee is like … a day without coffee !
Text on a billboard in the US, 2005
Coffee is produced in more than 60 countries of which two account for half of the world’s production: Brazil and Vietnam.
Arabica coffee, the fine-flavoured aromatic type, makes up around 60% of the total production and usually fetches the highest prices. The other variety, Robusta, is easier to produce and is more resistant to disease.
Around 70% of all coffee is exported – most of it in the form of green beans.
The world’s annual production is currently around 145 million 60-kg bags or almost 9 million tonnes. It takes 480,000 containers (20 ft.) to carry this much coffee. Placed in a row these would stretch over more than 2,900 km (1,800 miles).
