The story of coffee has its beginnings in Ethiopia, the original home of the coffee plant; Coffea arabica, which still grows wild in the forest of the highlands. While nobody is sure exactly how coffee was originally discovered as a beverage, One generation followed another and here we are in the 21st century when coffee has become the world’s second most popular non-alcoholic beverage after tea.
Ethiopia produces 3 to 4.6 million bags of coffee per year on 400,000 ha accounting for approximately 5% of the world’s coffee production. Ethiopia is the 10th largest producer in the World. Over 25% of Ethiopia’s GNP and over 55% of its export revenues are related to coffee. More than 25% of Ethiopia’s population depends on coffee, making it the life blood of the country. 85% of production is produced in the forests or semi forest areas or on small farms by smallholders or farmers. Only 5% of coffee is grown on large plantations.
Top 10 Coffee Producing Countries (2007/2008)
Countries | No. of Bags (thousands) | % of World Population |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 33,740 | 29% |
| Vietnam | 17,500 | 15% |
| Colombia | 12,400 | 11% |
| Indonesia | 7,000 | 6% |
| * Ethiopia | 5,733 | 5% |
| Kenya | 4,700 | 4% |
| India | 4,850 | 4% |
| Mexico | 4,500 | 4% |
| Guatemala | 4,000 | 3% |
| Honduras | 3,833 | 3% |
| Peru | 3,190 | 3% |
Top 15 Coffee consuming Countries (most recent)
Rank | Countries | Amount (kgs) |
|---|---|---|
| # 1 | Norway | 10.7 |
| # 2 | Finland | 10.1 |
| # 3 | Denmark | 9.7 |
| # 4 | Sweden | 7.8 |
| # 5 | Netherlands | 7.1 |
| # 6 | Switzerland | 7 |
| # 7 | Germany | 5.7 |
| # 8 | Austria | 5.5 |
| # 9 | Belgium | 5 |
| # 10 | France | 3.9 |
| # 11 | Italy | 3.2 |
| # 12 | United States | 3 |
| # 13 | Canada | 2.4 |
| # 14 | Australia | 2 |
| # 15 | Japan | 1.4 |