Where Do Your Coffee Beans Come From

From its origins in Ethiopia, where the main coffee production is still from wild coffee tree forests, coffee consumption has spread throughout the world. But because of its requirement for ample sunshine and rain, the plants from which beans are produced grow only in tropical or sub-tropical regions.

Though it is enjoyed around the world it is produced only in areas close to the equator.  This product is harvested on a grander scale than almost all other products.

Columbia is known for its great coffee.  Because of this you might think that they are the majority of all copy produced comes from Columbia.  But surprisingly that is not the case.  The majority of all coffee in the world comes from Brazil.  They produce 28% of all the coffee consumed.  Columbia is the second largest producing 16% of the coffee consumed in the world.  Next is Indonesia at 7% and then Mexico at 4%.

Part of the coffee trees prejudice is that it prefers areas of high altitude.  That being said the tree has been acclimated to produce fairly well in other areas as well.

In Brazil, the plantations cover huge areas and employ hundreds of workers to tend the plants. In Colombia the rugged mountains and poor economic conditions mean transportation to processing centers is still largely carried out by mule or Jeep.

Can anything grow on a volcano?  Coffee sure can.  The Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii proves to the perfect location for coffee trees to thrive.  The hot tropical sun and afternoon rains make for the perfect environment.

The islands of Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi in Indonesia produce a great deal of the world's coffee and have for many, many years.  Like Columbia, their methods are primitive, but this does not hinder the growth of hundreds of acres of coffee trees or their production.

Plantations in Mexico, by contrast to Brazil, are primarily small farms but with over 100,000 of them the total still makes the country a serious factor on the world market. Most are located in the south, in Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas with the special Altura beans indicating their origin in the high altitudes.

Vietnam in recent years has rapidly been challenging Indonesia's position as the Tonkin area recovers from decades of stagnation. First planted with arabica trees in the mid-19th century by French missionaries, the small plantations now produce robusta, one of the two main types of plant.