There has historically been some debate about the exact origination of coffee in society. Some people claim that around the 15th century it was cultivated in Ethiopia. After beginning at the Horn of Africa it has extended into Turkey and other regions followed. Some people also say that it was cultivated in Yemen.
Regardless of where it originated from, it has risen to be one of the most consumed commodities in world, one of the most traded commodities on the international market and that has made coffee very popular and pricey in many parts of the world.
The journey begins from the farm land where the coffee is grown. There are many countries now that produce coffee, some as their major export but only a few remain significant for producing the best coffee beans. Africa and particularly Ethiopia and Kenya are some of these countries that export a lot of coffee to the international market. The price of this commodity has been increasing since it started being traded. Now it goes for about three dollars a pound of coffee from the farmer to the importer and after being brewed to several flavors, the cafes sell it for around ten dollars.
As the customers sip on their gourmet coffee every morning, the journey it has taken for the coffee beans to be grown, harvested, picked, packed, transported and brewed is worth the taste and the amount of money the customer has paid for that cup of coffee. In most cases, the value of the cup of coffee is based on research rather than the cost of production. Most brewers will base their price depending on what their competitors or other brewers are selling theirs.
It takes about four years for a coffee tree to mature and the coffee beans to be picked. This is a lot of time and the technology that has been invested in brewing the cup of coffee is also phenomenon. All this has to affect the cost of production for the brewers and the coffee cafes. However, most of the farmers back in the fields continue to claim that they do not get the value of their coffee for different reason. Some it is because of the cartels that control the trade in their countries and take the lion’s share of the profits while for other farmers it is because of lack of channels of selling the coffee internationally. Most countries that produce coffee have been increasingly actively involved to change the situations.
