Coffee
Coffee is one of the world's most important primary commodities. With over 500 billion cups consumed every year, coffee is one of the world's most popular beverages. Worldwide, 25 million small producers rely on coffee for a living. For instance, in Brazil alone, where almost a third of all the world's coffee is produced, over 5 million people are employed in the cultivation and harvesting of over 3 billion coffee plants.
Brazil remains the largest coffee exporting nation, but in recent years Vietnam has become a major producer of Robusta beans. Colombia is the third exporter and the largest producer of washed Arabica coffee. Robusta coffees, traded in London at much lower prices than New York's Arabica, are preferred by large industrial clients, such as multinational roasters and instant coffee producers, because of the lower cost. Four single roaster companies buy more than 50 percent of all of the annual production: Kraft, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, and Sara Lee.
The concept of fair trade labelling, which guarantees coffee growers a negotiated pre-harvest price, began with the Max Havelaar Foundation's labelling program in the Netherlands. In 2004, 24,222 metric tons out of 7,050,000 produced worldwide were fair trade; in 2005, 33,991 metric tons out of 6,685,000 were fair trade, an increase from 0.34 percent to 0.51 percent a number of studies have shown that fair trade coffee has a positive impact on the communities that grow it. The production and consumption of "Fair Trade Coffee" has grown in recent years as some local and national coffee chains have started to offer fair trade alternatives.
There is a huge range of coffee commodity products available, including Robusta and Arabica beans, including sun and shade grown varieties, and traditional or fair-trade farmed coffees, and then further variations on all of them. If you are interested in buying coffee as a physical commodity Big Ben Commodities Ltd are able to source any variety or specification through our network of primary suppliers in South America.