Facts You Probably Don’t Know About Coffee

Coffee is a drink that is beloved worldwide. However, unless you are in the coffee business or are just really into studying the stuff, there is information that you may not know. Coffee is truly fascinating. It is so much more than just a drink that we enjoy when we need a wake up in the morning or afternoon; coffee is a lifestyle, it is a livelihood, it is an industry.

We use coffee in food, we drink it as a beverage, we brew it in hundreds (perhaps thousands) of ways, and we even have special places where we go to get the stuff.  So what are the crazy and awesome facts that we found about coffee?

1. 25 million farmers around the world depend on coffee to be their crop and sustain the economic livelihood. Can you believe it? 25 million farmers use coffee to provide food for their families, make purchases, and keep them alive. For many of us, we believe coffee is just a fun beverage.
2. In the United States, Americans drink 450 million cups of Joe every single day. For many of us, we drink a couple cups each day and with how many people there are in the country, this stat is right on track. Looking at a wider lens, we drink 150 billion cups of coffee each and every year. Basically, we love our coffee.
3. This may or may not surprise you but Brazil is the world’s biggest producer of coffee in the whole world. The supply the world with 44 million bags of beans every year. This year’s crop will be a bit lower due to the drought. However, other countries like those in Africa and Asia are helping make up the difference.
4. Every year, the coffee industry around the globe racks up a revenue total of $60 billion. That is a serious chunk of change but when you look at how much coffee Americans drink, not to mention other countries, it really makes sense.
5. All the coffee we drink in the world came from beans that were grown in the “Bean Belt”. This area occupies the space between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.
6. Do you like to drink your coffee? Well, nowadays, of course we do. However, in the past, people used to eat coffee. Tribes in Africa would mix the coffee cherries with fat and form them into energy balls. Yum.
7. Coffee is the second most valuable commodity on the planet, behind oil.

Marcey Barichello