Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/491368
28 STiR tea & coffee industry international B By Kelly Stein razil is one of few countries with a fully developed cultivation, coffee process- ing and retail sector. It is the world leader in green coffee production with size- able solubles and extracts segments and extensive coffee roasting capability. Brazil's success in developing a $US100 milllion domestic market is a model closely watched by coffee growing countries supplying their own expanding consuming class. Consumption more than doubled to 20 million 60-kilo bags in the five years ending in 2013, presenting great business opportunities in farming and retail in a country that will soon surpass the United States as the largest coffee market in the world. At 3.3 million square miles Brazil nearly spans the South American continent. Producers there are blessed with enormous tracts of land, but in much of the country there is a lack of farm-level infrastructure. Business opportunities are emerging along the entire length of the logistics chain (storage, preparation, packaging). Brazil is a 'coffee giant' but such immensity has its downside. The country dominated worldwide coffee exports during the 18th century and early 19th century but has since experienced a series of setbacks that diminished its lustre. The collapse of the New York Stock Exchange in 1929 nearly extinguished trade with the United States prompting then-President Getúlio Vargas to burn 18 tons of coffee to save the local economy. Subsequent frosts and pestilence reshaped the view that Brazil could supply the entire world with coffee and buyers gradually turned to other producing countries in Asia and Africa to ensure steady supply. In response producers turned to the domestic market where consumption has risen from 8.2 million bags in 1990 to more than 20 million bags in 2013. Brazilians pay very little for a cup. Low-cost blends of Arabica and Robusta pre- dominate, often with impurities and defective beans that are dark roasted to hide their imperfections. Brazilians pay $2 a pound (5 Brazilian Real/500 g) in grocery stores for roasted coffee. The average cup of brewed coffee costs 90 cents. Brazil's thirst for specialty blends is at an early stage. The best Arabica has al- ways been exported. That is why most consumers continue to drink low-grade cof- fee consumed black. Flavored espresso drinks with milk are new to the market. The emergence of specialty coffee promises a reversal of fortunes as commodity growers transition to quality. This production powerhouse not only grows the most coffee but also some of the best coffee in the world Bountiful Brazil Photo courtesy Da Terra Brasil. Nursery worker prepares soil for coffee seedlings.