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STiR tea & coffee industry international 33 example, which was bigger than São Paulo at the end of the 18th century thanks to the coffee business," explains Da Terra's marketing and trade coordinator, Gabriel Moreira. The mixing of racial groups, prominent in Brazil today, was also due to coffee. It occurred when slavery was abolished in 1888. The agrarian elite were soon desperate for cheap labor and urged the government to encourage immigrants from Eu- rope to work in the coffee industry. Brazil was the destination for hundreds of ships from Italy, Japan, France, and Germany. The nation's cultural mix began long ago, thanks to coffee. "We received lots of Italians in 1888 and this move got stronger with the years. People from around the world arrived in Santos port hoping for better life in our lands and, most of them started working in our coffee farms", said Ana Luiza Martins, author of the book Coffee History. "In the 20th century Brazil was producing a huge amount of coffee and it was basically selling itself. This changed, however, when other countries started selling better quality coffees for competitive prices," adds Martins. Eventually the era passed and the decadence of the coffee barons faded. Colombia was a pioneer in investing in marketing and widely came to be known for its coffee, according to Edgard Bressani c.e.o. of the O'Coffee Brazilian Estates and Octavio Café. "They spent millions and millions of dollars on the Juan Valdez brand and, with a smart campaign, they established a good deal for their product. Brazil started a slow movement to introduce its great coffees in 1991. It was then Brazilian farm- ers started looking for custumers abroad. Participating in inter- national fairs and quality cupping contests followed and that started changing the minds of producers," adds Bressani. Coffee franchises are rich opportunities for people who want to invest in the internal market. Any segment related to specialty coffee also offers a good opportunity. "The market is not saturated. The specialty coffee market is growing at a rate well above the growth of the commodity," said Bressani. Brazil dominates world supply Brazil's harvest this year will yield an estimated 40.1 million bags of processed coffee, according the National Supply Depart- ment (in Portuguese, Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento – Conab). The August 2014 estimate projected an 18% decline compared to 2013. Arabica beans make up 72.4% of total pro- duction. Arabica output is generally around 40 million bags and has not dropped below 24 million bags since 2005. Declines this year are due to a severe drought in early 2014 with intermittent rains in July that caused premature blooms. This year has seen the worst stretch of hot, dry weather on record. In some regions production may be off by 30%. Brazil's first official national stock market. Cherries ripened in early summer are harvested by September. Sprawling coffee plantations in Minas Gerais. Photo courtesy BSCA Photo courtesy Museu do Cafe Photo courtesy BSCA