Top-5 Coffee Exporters

Coffee is a product  all over the world. Coffee lovers drink it every day or several times a day. And when we say coffee, we also mean caffé latte, macchiato, cafe mocha, cappuccino, espresso, frappuccino and other diverse types of this tasty drink.

These countries provide the world with the best coffee and are top exporters of this product:
1. Brazil   
2. Vietnam   
3. Indonesia   
4. Colombia   
5. Ethiopia

How Vietnam Became a Coffee Giant

Think of coffee and you will almost certainly think of Brazil, Colombia, or maybe Ethiopia. It might surprise you but nowadays the world's second largest exporter is Vietnam. The country is actively exporting coffee, which grows in large areas. Its market share managed to jump from 0.1% to 20% in just 30 years. How have these rapid changes affected the country?

The Vietnam war ended in 1975, and economic policies introduced by the government at that time did nothing to help.

Collectivizing agriculture proved to be a disaster, so in 1986 the Communist Party placed a big bet, on coffee.

Coffee production grew considerably by 20%-30% every year in the 1990s. Today the industry employs about 2.6 million people. Coffee beans are grown on half a million smallholdings of two to three acres each.

As we see this reform proved to be highly successful. It helped transform the Vietnamese economy. For instance, in 1994 60% of Vietnamese lived under the poverty line, today less than 10% do.

The Vietnamese traditionally drank tea, like the Chinese, and still do," says Vietnam-based coffee consultant Will Frith.

Vietnamese people do drink it - sometimes with condensed milk, or in a cappuccino made - but coffee is mainly grown as an export crop.

Coffee was introduced to Vietnam by the French in the 19th Century and a processing plant manufacturing instant coffee was functioning by 1950.

Some big companies, like Nestle, have their processing plants in Vietnam, which roast the beans and pack it.

Thomas Copple, an economist at the International Coffee Organization in London, says most of the crop is exported as green beans and then processed in other countries, in Germany for example.

Some local entrepreneurs in Vietnam are planning to set up an international chain of Vietnamese-style coffee shops.

"We want to bring Vietnamese coffee culture to the world. It isn't going to be easy but in the next year we want to compete with the big brands like Starbucks," Chairman Vu says.

"If we can take on and win over the US market we can conquer the whole world."

The Most Traded Food and Beverage Commodities (Part 2)

Soybean Meal

Soybean meal was the sixth-most traded food commodity in 2013.

China was the world's biggest producer and consumer of soybean meal, producing and consuming more than 53 million tonnes of the commodity in 2013, followed by the US. The EU is the second-largest soybean meal consumer after China.

Argentina, exporting more than 25 million tonnes, was the biggest soybean meal exporter in the world followed by Brazil and the US. The EU, followed by Indonesia and Thailand, are the world's biggest soybean meal importers.

Corn / maize

Corn / maize was the seventh-most traded food commodity in the world.

The US produced more than 350 million tonnes of corn, becoming the biggest corn producer followed by China. T

The US exported more than 35 million tonnes of corn in 2013, becoming the biggest corn exporter followed by Brazil, Ukraine and Argentina. Japan, which imported more than 15 million tonnes of corn, was the world's biggest corn importer followed by Mexico, the EU and China.

Broiler Meat

Broiler Meat (poultry / chicken)was the eighth-most traded food commodity in 2013.

The US, with an annual production exceeding 16 million tonnes, was the biggest poultry producer after Indonesia and China. . The US and China, with annual domestic consumption exceeding 13 million tonnes each, were the leading chicken consumers.

Brazil exported more than 3.5 million tonnes in 2013 becoming the biggest broiler meat exporter, followed by the US and the EU. Japan was the biggest poultry importer followed by Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Mexico.

Rice

Rice ranks ninth on the list of the biggest food commodities traded in the world market.

China was the biggest rice producer and consumer in the world followed by India. India's rice production and consumption during the year stood at 103 million tonnes and 95 million tonnes respectively.

India, exporting more than ten million tonnes of rice annually, continued to be the world's biggest rice exporter followed by Thailand and Vietnam. China, importing more than three million tonnes of rice annually, was the biggest rice importer after Nigeria and Iran.

Coffee

An estimated trade value exceeding $15bn makes coffee the world's biggest beverage commodity and the tenth-biggest food andbeverage commodity by trade volume.

Brazil was by far the biggest coffee producer followed by Vietnam, Indonesia and Columbia. The EU, consuming more than 2.5 million tonnes annually, was the world's biggest coffee consumer followed by the US and Brazil which consumed more than 1.2 million tonnes of coffee each.

Brazil, exporting more than 1.6 million tonnes of coffee beans a year, was the biggest coffee exporter followed by Vietnam and Columbia. The EU was the biggest coffee importer followed by the US and Japan.