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Coffee facts

Things worth knowing.....

  • Approximately 20 million people work in the coffee industry worldwide.
  • Coffee is the second most actively traded commodity, right after oil.
  • Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer.
  • The estimated value of the export of green coffee is 10 billion dollar.
  • Coffee has many different varieties, more than 60!
  • Only two coffee varieties have an economic significance: Arabica and Robusta.
  • Black coffee (without sugar or milk) does not contain calories (less than 1 Kcal.)
  • Caffeinated coffee shows a beneficial effect on alertness and improves performance in a variety of tasks in both day and night sessions.
  • The popularity of dark roasted coffee is high in Southern Europe.
  • A good coffee tree can produce up to 1 kg of raw coffee per year.
  • In contrast to what most people think, coffee does not grow in plain brown beans,   but in red berries carrying green beans (two beans per berry).
  • During roasting the coffee beans dry out and the sugars in the beans start to caramelise.
  • The most important form of trade in coffee are both the stock market and the 'effective' coffee trade.
  • The quality of a cup of coffee does not depend on the blend only but also on the ratio of the amount of water and coffee used for brewing.
  • The present coffee producing belt around the globe encompasses approximately 70 countries.
  • Coffee only grows in tropical and sub-tropical regions.
  • The coffee tree needs an average temperature of between 17° C and 23° C as well as abundant precipitation and good soil conditions.
  • The original home of coffee was the Abyssinian highlands.