The Global Coffee Industry

The global coffee industry in numbers

Coffee statistics usually describe green coffee, meaning beans before roasting, or processed products converted into their green-coffee equivalent. A statistical bag represents 60 kg, not necessarily the weight of an individual sack in a warehouse.

The ICO’s September 2026 Coffee Market Report gives the following estimates:

These are estimates for October to September, not calendar-year totals. The ICO calculates apparent consumption using production, net trade and stock changes where applicable, rather than counting individual drinks.

That distinction matters when comparing reports. National harvest calendars differ, statistical agencies revise their estimates, and a forecast published before harvest is not equivalent to a later assessment. Earlier figures around 178 million bags should not be combined with newer consumption estimates to calculate a balance.

Production is geographically concentrated. FAO identifies Brazil and Vietnam as accounting for nearly half of global output, while the European Union and United States are leading importing and consuming markets. Growing countries also drink coffee themselves: production does not automatically become an export.

For the wider set of topics behind these numbers, start with our coffee industry guide.

From farm to retail: how the value chain works

A value chain is the sequence of activities that turns a raw material into something a customer buys. Coffee’s chain includes physical transformation, transport, quality assessment, financing and selling.

The simplest route looks like this, although businesses can combine several stages.

1. Farmers grow and harvest coffee. They manage trees and collect the cherries containing the coffee seeds. Their output may leave the farm as cherries, partly processed coffee or dried green beans, depending on local arrangements.
2. Processors prepare the beans. Processing removes fruit material and dries the coffee. Milling and sorting then prepare green beans for the required quality specification.
3. Exporters assemble and dispatch shipments. They connect local supply with overseas contracts, arranging preparation, documentation and delivery responsibilities.
4. Importers and traders connect supply with buyers. They organise purchases, logistics and stock availability, often supplying quantities suited to individual roasters.
5. Roasters, manufacturers and retailers reach the customer. Coffee becomes roasted beans, ground coffee, soluble coffee or other finished products, then enters shops, hospitality and workplace supply channels.

This is not a compulsory five-business relay. A cooperative may process and export its members’ coffee, while a roasting business may import directly or sell through its own shops.

The useful question is therefore not simply “How many middlemen are there?” It is “Who performs each job, carries each risk and receives payment for doing it?” Removing an intermediary does not remove the need for transport, quality control or working capital, meaning the finance needed while goods move through the business.

What exporters, importers, roasters and retailers contribute

Exporters operate at the connection between producing-country supply and international buyers. A shipment must meet agreed requirements, not merely contain coffee from the right country.

Importers make overseas supply accessible to destination-market buyers. An importer holding coffee locally can supply a roaster without that roaster having to organise a complete international shipment.

Roasters and manufacturers turn green coffee into finished products. Their role includes selecting inputs, maintaining product consistency and deciding how coffee is presented to customers.

Retailers and food-service businesses provide the final route to consumption. Selling a sealed packet and preparing a drink are different activities, so their revenues and operating requirements should not be treated as directly comparable.

These functions can sit within independent businesses or larger groups. Our key players overview explains the types of organisation involved without turning this introduction into a company directory.

Market value, export earnings and retail spending are different

There is no useful answer to “How big is the coffee market?” until the measurement is defined.

Export earnings record coffee sold across a border. A properly specified total identifies the exporting countries, reporting period and products included, such as green, roasted or soluble coffee.

Retail spending records purchases by final customers. Its scope might cover supermarket packets, prepared drinks or both. A café transaction includes preparation and service, not just the agricultural product.

Global market value is an umbrella expression rather than a single statistical measure. Different reports may include different products, sales channels and geographical coverage.

Do not add these totals together: coffee can appear in an export transaction and later in a retail transaction. Nor should a producing country’s export receipts be described as the income retained by its farmers.

When reading a monetary market report, check its period, currency, treatment of inflation and taxes, and whether it measures sales or value added. Value added measures the additional value created at a stage, rather than counting the full transaction again.

Who earns what?

There is no defensible universal percentage showing what every coffee farmer receives from every finished drink.

BASIC’s 2024 study, commissioned by the Global Coffee Platform, IDH and Solidaridad, modelled coffee from Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia and Vietnam sold through German retailers in 2021. Its estimates illustrate how distribution changes with product format.

These are rounded shares of final retail value, not profit margins. VAT is separate, so the displayed rows are not a complete breakdown. Farming receipts must cover production expenses, and the study’s net farm income also remunerates family labour.

At the broader level, the Coffee Barometer 2026 describes value concentrating downstream, in consuming-country activities such as branding and retail. It cites an ICO 2020 estimate that producing countries’ share of final retail value had fallen from about 30% in the early 1990s to around 10%.

That is a historical comparison cited by a later report, not a newly measured 2026 farmer-income share. It also concerns producing countries, including activities beyond farming.

The practical lesson is to ask what a percentage measures before repeating it. A share of export receipts, a share of packet sales and a household’s net income answer different questions.

The trends changing the industry

Convenience and differentiated products

CBI’s February 2026 European market assessment identifies ready-to-drink coffee, specialty coffee and product customisation as important trends. These are changes in what people buy and how they consume it, not proof that every market is moving in the same direction.

A bottled coffee drink creates a different manufacturing and distribution chain from a bag of roasted beans. Equally, demand for named origins and distinctive flavours can require more detailed separation and documentation of individual lots.

Sustainability claims face a demand test

Producing certified coffee and selling it as certified are different outcomes. IISD’s August 2026 report estimates that only about 51% of certified coffee production was actually sold as certified.

Certification capacity alone therefore does not establish buyer demand. For a sourcing claim, ask which standard applies, what volume it covers and whether the statement describes production, purchasing or a future commitment.

Traceability is becoming a market-access requirement

Traceability means being able to follow coffee through its supply chain. For EU trade, the EU Deforestation Regulation makes evidence about origin and deforestation relevant to market access.

As checked in November 2026, the European Commission lists application from 30 December 2026 for large and medium operators, and 30 June 2027 for most micro and small operators. Newly added soluble coffee products have a separate application date of 30 December 2027.

These are EU requirements, not a blanket statement of UK domestic law. Businesses serving EU customers need to check their product scope and responsibilities.

The industry’s hardest challenges

Climate resilience requires long-term work. World Coffee Research identifies breeding and access to better varieties as essential responses to changing production conditions. New planting material must work in local farming systems, so adaptation involves research, field testing and delivery to farmers, not simply announcing a new variety.

Farm and worker livelihoods remain vulnerable. The Coffee Barometer 2026 highlights unpaid family labour and weak protections for seasonal workers. More valuable finished products do not automatically resolve those problems.

Concentration creates dependency. Reliance on a small number of major producing origins exposes the wider chain to disruption. Concentrated buying also makes procurement practices important, which is why ownership and scale deserve separate attention in Coffee Industry Giants.

Better coordination must reach the farm. The ICO’s value-chain research identifies durable relationships, producer organisations and access to knowledge and finance as mechanisms that can support participation. The test is whether arrangements improve producers’ position, not simply whether another programme exists.

A checklist for reading industry claims

Use these questions whenever a report makes a striking claim about the global coffee industry:

• What is being measured? Production, exports, consumption, sales, profit or household income?
• Which period applies? Calendar year, coffee year, harvest year or forecast?
• What is the unit? Tonnes, 60 kg bags, green-coffee equivalent or finished products?
• Whose experience is represented? One origin, one retail market or the world?
• What sits behind the headline? Check the method, revisions, exclusions and original source.

This is also a useful way to question a supplier’s sustainability statement: ask for the underlying evidence and its scope, rather than treating a broad promise as a measured result.