Some helpful information needed

[g5cubed]

Hi guys,

I was wondering if the coffee bean connoisseurs could help explain something regarding the coffee bean industry.

I understand coffee beans come from various parts of the world, such as Latin America, Central America, Asia, Africa, etc. But do the coffee bean farmers sell these harvested beans to companies that then grind and sell them via supermarkets, or do the farmers themselves grind the beans and sell them directly?

My understanding is that it is the former (farmers sell the beans to companies). If that''s the case, could you provide me with a brief list of the some of the companies.

Any help would be appreciated ( i tried wiki''ing it with no luck). This is for a project BTW.

Thanks

 

[Alun_evans]

In very general terms, most farmers have no way of getting their crop (green beans) to the big consuming markets- the US, Europe, Middle East and Australasia. So Coffee Brokers or sometimes bigger (or small but inventive) roasters buy the green (read: unroasted and unground) coffee from the farmers. The coffee is then shipped in sea containers to the buyer country.

Most roasters still buy their green coffee from large coffee brokers- such as Royal Coffee in New York. This saves the roaster the hard work of sourcing the coffee him/herself.

Generally in most countries Supermarkets do not roast their own coffee- although in the USA with the huge volume of coffee sales that go through some of the chains, I would not be suprised if there was some ownership link-up between some of the huge retailers and roasters.

You should try googl'ing "Coffee Brokers" and then you will get a list of the companies that import coffee.

Good luck with the project

 

[PinkRose]

Hello,

It sounds like you need to do some research for your project.

If you do a Google search (using words like "coffee bean processing" and also "coffee exporters and importers") you'll get lots of web sites (like the one below) that will give you a better understanding of how coffee is grown, processed, and marketed.

http://www.hollandbymail.com/coffee/cof ... o_cup.html


Rose

 

[g5cubed]

Thanks again for the help!