Economics of Coffee

Coffee is an important commodity and a popular beverage. Over 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed in the world every day. Over 90% of coffee production takes place in developing countries.

The world's largest transfer point for coffee is the port of Hamburg, Germany.

According to the Specialty Coffee Association of America, in 2004 16% of adults in the United States drank specialty coffee daily: the retail amounted to 17,400 and total sales were $8.96 billion in 2003.

IN 2005, however, the coffee prices rose. This rise was likely caused  by an increase in consumption in Russia and China as well  as a harvest which was about 10% to 20% lower.  Many coffee bean farmers can now live off their products, but because of rising petroleum prices make the transportation, roasting and packaging of the coffee beans more expensive.

Prices have risen from 2005 to 2009 and sharply in the second half of 2010 on fears of a bad harvest in key coffee-producing countries.

Organic Coffee is produce under strict  certification guidelines, and is grown without the use of potentially harmful

artificial pesticides or fertilizers; conventional coffee is grown with more pesticides than any other agricultural crop- cotton come second.

Fair Trade coffee is produced by small coffee producers who belong to cooperatives; guaranteeing for these cooperatives a minimum price, thought with historically low prices. current fair-trade minimums are lower than the market price of only a few years ago.