Consumers of different countries make different choices of coffee, depending on the caffeine content; some like it with a lot of caffeine, some like it with less. Robusta is not popular in Scandinavia and Switzerland, while in France, on the other hand, there is no tax on Robusta because of fiscal policy favoring the ex- French colonies that produce it, and this consumption is clearly encouraged.  In Italy, espresso is usually made from an Arabica and Robusta blend, although wise coffee drinkers prefer a pure Arabica blend.

      Leaving preference aside, 70 million sacks of coffee a year are sent around the world with the producing countries satisfying the palates of millions of consumers in countries where coffee can never be grown.  The coffee market is a world-wide market with an enormous volume of trade (it’s in second place in international trade).

      All coffee producing countries and almost all consuming countries belong to the International Coffee Organization (Ico) which is in charge of this enormous movement of beans.  The Ico works to promote the consumption of coffee around the world, and also helps to regulate the coffee market. The Coffee Market is active everyday in Wall Street, London, Paris and Le Harve.  The organization’s agents are often sales offices that are the same as the diplomatic seats of producing countries.

      Now let’s take a quick look at the countries that are the largest coffee consumers.  Italy plays an important role in the coffee market and the history of coffee.  Every year it imports roughly 324 thousand tons of green coffee, of which half is Arabica and half Robusta.  Thanks to 750 roasting firms in Italy, 3800 tons of coffee per year is exported.  In our country 70% of coffee consumption is domestic, 25% is in cafés, bars etc. and the remainder in offices.  Every Italian consumes roughly 4.9 kg if coffee a year either at home, in bars or at the office.

      And it’s in the bar, Italians drink 14 billion cups of espresso.   Instant coffee is fortunately not favored by Italian palates and accounts for less than 1% of the market.  Considering these figures, it is clear that in Italy and world-wide coffee is more than a culture phenomenon or an Italian gastronomic tradition.  At least one million Italians work with the actual beans.  An interesting fact is that, according to a classification table, Calabria and Valle D’Aosta are the two regions fondest of coffee.

      The French consume roughly 180 thousand tons of coffee a year and they prefer weaker coffee than the Italians.  They make their coffee using average sized coffee beans, which have been medium roasted.  In Germany coffee is popular too.  There they prefer their coffee made from light roasted coffee, coarsely ground, which typically comes from Colombia and Brazil.  Luckily, the Germans’ consumption of espresso coffee is also growing.

      English people still prefer tea to coffee and the coffee they consume tends to be instant.  During the late 1950s and early 1960s, coffee began to be more favored by the English.  During the so-called Cultural Revolution, young British people rejected the habits and lifestyles of their parents and abandoned tea.  Instead, they turned to coffee, which was seen to symbolize a more continental lifestyle.

      Finland consumes large quantities of coffee; each Finn consumes the equivalent of 12kg of green coffee beans, which makes them the highest consumers per capita in the world.  What is more, the Finnish people not only really enjoy their coffee, but they also pay a lot of attention to its quality.  Luckily soluble coffee is not at all popular.  Lapland gets its coffee from Kenya, Colombia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Mexico.

      The coffee that goes to the United States comes from Latin America too.  Due to the growing popularity of espresso coffee, mainly with young yuppie in urban areas, experts are predicting an increase in the demand for coffee.

      Finally, it is interesting to look at the situation in Japan.  Here coffee is very expensive and is usually Jamaican Blue Mountain.  The Japanese people have so much respect for coffee that they have honored it with a national holiday on the first of October.  They usually prefer light roasted coffee, but do not drink much espresso, although demand is increased.  They do, however, consume a lot of hot or cold canned coffee.