Coffee Production and Consumption

Coffee Production and Consumption

Whether consumed as a morning wake-me-up or for an afternoon jolt, coffee is a global phenomenon. Its consumption patterns are unrivaled and ever-evolving, nearly unfathomable to farmers and drinkers of years past. Coffee has moved away from the farms and into corporations. This effort is spearheaded by Starbucks, and core countries like America just can’t get enough. This coffee boom or “latte revolution” has not gone without consequences, as core countries benefit at the expense of underdeveloped, periphery countries that produce the beans. As consumption and production patterns shift drastically, including the Fair Trade movement, bigger and bigger economic concerns are emerging for these periphery countries.

Every day, the Earth’s population of roughly seven billion consumes an astonishing 2.25 billion cups of coffee (Bacon 2005, 499). Coffee is the second largest (legally) traded commodity after oil and is the primary export of many periphery and Latin American countries (Ponte 2002, 1099). In some parts of Latin America, the crop accounts for as much as one third of export earnings (Bacon 2005, 499). It also employs somewhere between twenty and twenty-five million families (Bacon 2005, 499). These workers are not exclusively, but often, small farmers. (Bacon 2005, 499) Two out of every three of these small farmer’s crops are exported to core countries like the United States or Europe (Raynolds 2002, 405).

This very important crop is only gaining popularity. Coffee consumption has increased by ten percent per capita over the past twenty years (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 2011). Consumption patterns are changing, however, by companies like Starbucks. Before the 1990s, coffee was mostly consumed and enjoyed in the household, with relatively little variety in bean flavor and boldness (Ponte 2002, 1100-1105). Now, however, coffee restaurants and stores such as Starbucks are emerging on every street corner, making (as Ponte calls it) the “latte revolution” inescapable. These shops market and successfully sell ambiance and status, sometimes at the cost of the quality of the coffee beans themselves (Ponte 2002, 1099). As Starbucks founder Howard Schultz himself notes, “It’s more than great coffee. It’s the romance of the coffee experience, the feeling of warmth and community people get in Starbucks stores.” (Schultz 1997, 5) This has greatly changed the consumption habits of consumers in core countries, specifically Americans. Schultz continues, again highlighting consumptions shifts, says, “We’ve become such a resonant symbol of contemporary American life that our familiar green siren logo shows up frequently on TV shows and in movies.” (Schultz 1997, 5) As Ponte champions, the “latte revolution” is one where consumers (in core countries) are willing to pay far too much for different varieties, origins, brewing methods, flavoring,