Who Are the 3 Largest Producers of Coffee in the World? (Solved!)

The three largest producers of Coffee in the world are:

1. Brazil (47.7 million sacks in 2021 – 16.8% growth rate is expected for 2022.)
2. Vietnam (1,820,000 million metric tons in 2021 with an expected growth rate of 4.73% for 2022.)
3. Colombia (11.5 million bags in 2021 – 23% growth rate is expected for 2022.)

Brazil ranks as the top exporter of coffee all over the world. This country exports four and half billion U.S dollars worth of coffee to different countries worldwide. Brazil is the world’s largest coffee-producing country. It fulfills one-third of coffee needs all over the world.

In Brazil, the coffee plantation area consists of 27,000 square squares (10,000 sq mi), mainly located in the Eastern states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Paraná, where climate conditions are suitable for cultivating the world’s best coffee.

Vietnam is the second-largest producer of coffee throughout the world and exports near two million metric tons of coffee with large mountainous areas covered by coffee farms.

This article will look at the history of Brazil, Vietnam, and Colombia and how these countries became the world’s top exporters.

How Does Brazil Make Over A Third Of The World’s Coffee?

Coffee is one of the most significant industries in Brazil. Brazil is by far the world’s biggest producer of coffee, meeting a third of the world’s coffee demand. The coffee industry generates 8 million jobs in the country. Several ways are practiced to make it.

In Matas de Minas Region (Minas Gerais, Brazil), coffee production is initiated with the planting of a coffee seed. Five years later, the coffee plant is ready to produce cherries that it will keep producing for around 60 years.

The coffee beans are inside the cherries. The cherries are picked and taken to be dried in the sun. They are moved from time to time so that they dry evenly. It takes two to three weeks for the beans to dry thoroughly. When they are fully dried, they are ready to roast.

What Is The History Behind The Largest Coffee Producer?

Francisco de Melo Palheta planted the first coffee plant in Brazil in the para-state in 1727. According to him, the natives of Brazil were finding coffee seeds but could not get them due to the governors’ dispute about exporting the seeds from the French Guiana border. 

Paleta was a government member, and he was sent to French Guiana to resolve the conflict between the borders. When he was coming back, he managed to smuggle some seeds of coffee by barbering the governor’s wife. She gave him a bouquet of coffee seeds. That coffee was cultivated and spread from para and reached Reo de Janeiro in 1770.

This coffee was grown to such an amount that it fulfilled the domestic demand. But later, its production was increased when there was an increased demand for coffee by American and European countries.

In late 1920, Brazil became the most prominent country, meeting the demand for coffee up to 80% worldwide. Later its contribution declined due to globally increased production of coffee.

What Is The History Behind Vietnam Becoming the Second Largest Coffee Producer?

According to Tony Le Ngoc Thuong, who works as an assistant CEO and senior trader in Vinacafe, “the coffee was brought to Vietnam by French missionaries in the 1850s.”

He further tells that in 1888 French farmers started opening coffee farms in different cities, namely Coudeux Gombert (Nghe An, Vietnam), Rossi and Delfanate (Daklak, Coffee Capital of Vietnam), Borel Leconte (Ha Nam, Vietnam), and Michael Philip (Quang Tri, Vietnam).

As a consequence of all these efforts, coffee production significantly increased in Vietnam through the 1890s.

There was a continuous coffee plantation throughout Central Highlands from 1920 to 1926. The coffee plantation continued and covered an area of 10,700ha by the end of 1945. This area increased to 20,000ha by the end of 1975.

The Vietnam wars were proved a game-changer for the coffee industry there, and these wars shaped the coffee industry to something we know today – the second largest producer of the world’s coffee.

In 1975, when the Vietnam war was ended, the whole coffee industry came under collectivization after being nationalized.

There was an astronomic growth seen in 1986 due to the private ownership of the lands, and that growth increased exponentially by then.

In Vietnam, 600,000ha of the mountainous area is covered by coffee farms yielding more than 1.8 million metric tons of coffee every year.

What Is The History Behind Columbia Becoming the Third Largest Coffee Producer?

In the 1700s, coffee was introduced in Columbia by some Jesuit priests. Spanish settlers brought Jesuit priests there. It was in the country’s Northeast region where coffee was first harvested.

The country did not export any coffee until the 1800s until the civil, war notoriously known as the Thousand Days war was, broke out in Columbia. This war gave farmers ownership of the coffee lands.

Early in the 1900s, the country created a logistic system that enabled small-estate, rural farmers to export coffee efficiently.

In 1927, the FNC – an organization was created that was responsible for protecting the rights of coffee producers.

In the 1950s, the FNC worked on a marketing campaign that communicated the exceptional quality of Colombian coffee with pleasant sweetness, high levels of flavor quality, and crisp acidity.

It is estimated that 600,000 workers are working in the coffee industry.

What Are The Top 10 Coffee-Growing Countries?

Following are the top 10 coffee-growing countries:

1. Brazil –  produces 65 million bags of coffee per year.
2. Vietnam –  produces 32 million coffee per year.
3. Colombia –  produces 14.8 million coffee per year.
4. Indonesia – produces 753.9 thousand metric tons of coffee per year.
5. Ethiopia –  produces 300,000 metric tons of coffee per year.
6. India –  produces 299,300 metric tons of coffee per year.
7. Honduras –  produces 5.5 million bags of coffee per year.
8. Uganda –  produces 158.56 million bags of coffee per year.
9. Mexico –  produces 3.9 million bags of coffee per year.
10. Guatemala –  produces 3.6 million bags of coffee per year.