As Brazil celebrates its 290 years of coffee history, the country will harvest a record crop of approximately 58 million coffee bags, with average productivity of 30 coffee bags per hectare, thus consolidating Brazilian coffee growing as leader in the beverage global scenario. Today, the country is the largest coffee grower and exporter in the world, and second largest consumer.

According to MAPA (Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply), Gross Coffee Production reached R$ 24.34 billion, contributing to generate millions of jobs and improve the quality of life of Brazilian population.
With regard to quality of life, together with the Gini index, which measures income, it is also interesting to take a look at the HDI (Human Development Index), which considers income, education, and health. Comparing the HDI from FAO (UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization) we can observe that agricultural development in Brazil has improved the lives of people in recent decades.

According to preliminary data from the Agricultural Census 2017, recently presented by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), being a Brazilian coffee grower is also a good business, considering sustainability, economics, social and environmental variables.

Coffee is currently produced in 307.8K establishments, a 7.3% increase compared to the 2006 Census, when 286.7K establishments were recorded. In Minas Gerais, the largest domestic grower, Census data show a 13.9% increase in the number of properties dedicated to coffee growing in the state, with 120 thousand.

Moreover, Brazil is the country that most transfers FOB prices to its growers (Free on Board – price negotiated for the Arabica coffee bag boarded on the ship). According to IPEP/CECAFÉ methodology – share of domestic price in FOB for Brazilian Arabica – Brazil transfers approximately 80% of prices. Such level shows logistic efficiency and transparency in the coffee production chain.

In the environmental aspect, results from CAR (Rural Environmental Registry) show that coffee growers are responsible for most environmental conservation. Brazil preserves 66.3% of its native vegetation, showing to the world that it is possible to conciliate food production and environmental conservation. According to data compiled by Embrapa, nearly 25.6% of the preserved vegetation is in private rural properties. Amongst Brazilian coffee growers, conservation levels reach approximately 30%.

We are therefore very proud to celebrate Farmer’s Day on July 28th. Thinking into the future, Brazilian rural growers and the whole domestic agribusiness play a leading position. International recognition led the United Nations Organization (UNO) to expect the country to supply 40% of the food demand of a growing world population, which should go from the current 7 billion to 11 billion inhabitants in 2050.

The expected growth of population, middle class and income, particularly in Asian countries, annually expands the demand for diversified and quality food, like coffee.

Due to the current dynamic environment for global coffee consumption, it is possible to establish scenarios for performance demand in the next decade. Total coffee demand in 2030 tends to be approximately 205 to 220 million coffee bags, according to projected scenarios.

A double task for Brazilian coffee growers. CECAFÉ, representing the coffee exporting business in Brazil, partners with coffee growers in the mission to spread knowledge through the “Well Informed Grower Program”. The objective is digital inclusion, as well as to enhance productivity, income, grower quality and the quality of life of rural populations, while preserving natural resources and mitigating eventual negative impacts.

By spreading good farming and management practices, we seek to increase growers’ resilience and build their skills to overcome all challenges and seize all opportunities coffee growing may bring.

Marcos Matos – Chief Executive Officer – CECAFÉ