Top 10 Coffee Producing Countries

Coffee is produced from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant and is cultivated in around 70 countries. The Arab world first welcomed the cultivation of coffee and it is one of the most consumed beverage of the world. After the Muslim world, it started penetrating in India and then the rest of the Europe and America. Nowadays we perceive coffee as a beverage but in old times, the African tribes used to eat coffee by mixing it with fat. How many among you know about the “Bean Belt”?. It might sound familiar to some of you. It is the area between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and it is the only area in which all the coffee of the world is grown. If we talk of U.S, then the only area which falls in this belt is Hawaii and consequently it is the only state in U.S where coffee is grown. Kings can think of anything and then pass any law accordingly. Yes, this is what happened in 1675. The King of England banned all the coffee houses because he was of the opinion that these are the places where people congregate to plan conspiracies against him. Now let us get on to the top 10 chart of the countries producing the most coffee. Before starting on with the list, I would like to mention here something which you will need to understand about the production figure. All the following production figures will mean number of bags and each bag weighs around 60 kilograms. Furthermore, I have collected this data from the U.S Department of Agriculture. Let’s check out the list of top 10 Coffee Producing Countries

Last Update: 24-January-2012

See Also: Interesting Facts About Coffee

10.Mexico

The production of coffee in Mexico is about 3,700,000 bags. This is the current figure but Mexico has set its eyes on the year 2012 to increase its production capacity. According to Gabriel Barreda, President of the National Union of Coffee Producers, a rise of about 10-15% is expected in the overall coffee production in the year 2012.

9.Guatemala

The production here is 3,910,000 bags. The history of the coffee industry in Guatemala dates back to 1860′s and at that time the locals didn’t have sufficient money to invest in the coffee estates. For this particular reason, the foreigners invested huge capital in Guatemala and now own coffee plantations there. U.S is the largest market for the export of coffee from Guatemala followed by Japan.

8.Peru

Peru produces around 4,000,000 bags. Coffee is one of the main agricultural sectors of Peru and it makes large amount of money by the export of coffee. There are almost 200,0000 farms of Arabica, a type of coffee, in Peru but the size of the farms is small ___ approximately equal to 2 hectares.

7.Honduras

The coffee production in Honduras is 4,000,000 bags. Honduras is primarily an agricultural country and its economy is dependent on agricultural expots to a very great extent. Coffee is the largest export crop for this country. Honduras is blessed with all tha environmental factors which are required for coffee production but it seriously lack in the pertinent infrastructure, processing techniques and a distinct ‘name’ due to which the exporters of coffee in this country are unable to charge premium prices from the customers.

6.Ethiopia

Ethiopia produces around 4,400,000 bags of coffee. There are myriad ways to produce coffee and Ethiopia has around four types of production systems; forest coffee, semi- forest coffee, garden coffee and plantation coffee. Coffee is very vital to the economy of this country and this is validated by the fact that around 25% of the total population of Ethiopia is relying on coffee for their livelihood.

5.India

In India, the coffee production is approximately 5,100,000 bags. Although India has managed to grab the fifth position in the top ten chart but according to some industry experts in this country, the total production of coffee may possibly go down by ten percent. The reason anticipated is the sporadic rains which have started early this year.

4.Indonesia

There is a great jump in the production of coffee in Indonesia as compared to India with a figure of around 9,325,000 bags. According to an estimate, about 90% of the coffee production in this country is done by small farm holders and the size of the farms is nearly one hectare.Coffea canephora, a type of coffee, constitutes the major portion of the export of Indonesia and the rest goes to the Coffea Arabica.

3.Colombia

The production of coffee in Colombia is around 9,500,000 bags. Colombian coffee is not an ordinary one like the other coffee producing countries because it has a unique taste and a very high quality coffee beans. The production of coffee will not be increased seemingly due to bad weather condition prevailing in Colombia. The overall weather forecast for the year 2012 is not very appealing to the cultivators throughout the world.

2.Vietnam

The production of coffee in Vietnam touches a figure of 18,725,000 bags. In the initial stages of the cultivation of coffee, water is essential for a healthy crop. Taking this thing into consideration, the farmers have started watering the fields because the weather forecast is dry and enough water will have to be supplied as a repercussion. The export of coffee is on the rise and a forecast of four percent rise in exports is there by the analysts. Vietnam is the top robust producer.

1.Brazil

The estimated production of coffee in Brazil is about 54,500,000 bags. About one third of all the coffee produced in the world is attributed to Brazil and the more cherishing thing for Brazilians is that they have maintained this top position for around 150 years. Notwithstanding, the Brazilian coffee does not have a dominating impression in the International market. Even in the domestic market of Brazil, the two U.S coffee processors ___ Sara Lee and Kraft Foods ___ have steal the show.