Coffee: A Global History (Edible)

by Jonathan Morris

In 1998 the ico’s composite indicator price for coffee was 109 U.S. cents per pound; by 2002 it had fallen to below 48 cents. Although the price rose thereafter, it was only in 2007 that it returned above $1 to 107 cents. This dramatic and prolonged price collapse had profound effects. Producers were plunged into poverty, while the industry’s public image in consumer countries came under attack. The problem was an ongoing excess of supply over demand. In 2001–2, 113 million bags of coffee were produced, an additional 40 million bags had accumulated, yet world consumption stood at 106 million bags. The ico executive director declared, ‘At the origin of this coffee glut lies the rapid expansion of production in Vietnam and new plantations in Brazil.’24 The price fall consequences were felt differently across the sector. Where costs of production were low, technologies well developed and exchange rate movements favourable, such as in Brazil, it was still possible to make profits. Conversely, where coffee was used as a cash crop by subsistence farmers, as in most African, some Central American and many Asian countries, this reduced the money available to spend on medicines, education, food or servicing debts. In Guatemala, the coffee labour force was halved. In Colombia, farmers ripped up their coffee trees, replacing them with coca plants for the drugs trade. Many Mexican growers gave up and attempted to illegally enter the U.S., often perishing in the attempt. Political conf...