World Coffee Demand Rises; East Europe, Japan Cited

By Susan Buchanan
of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

MIAMI (Dow Jones)--Coffee-sales opportunities exist in mature and newer markets, with Eastern Europe, parts of Western Europe, Japan and other Asian nations all promising, said John Gilmore, of Datamonitor, speaking at a National Coffee Association conference in Aventura, Fla., on Saturday.

Overall coffee demand in the 40 countries tracked by Datamonitor's research is growing by 1%-1.5% annually and should increase at a faster pace later in the decade.

Western Europe is the largest single market for coffee, with 63% of consumption from roasted, ground beans and the rest from instant coffee, Gilmore said.

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Starbucks plans to buy more African coffee

Java retailer also plans to open 1,500 more stores in 2005

LIVINGSTONE, Zambia - Starbucks plans to raise its coffee purchases from Africa, although the bulk of supply will continue to come from Latin America, an executive with the world’s largest coffee retailer said on Sunday.

Starbucks Coffee Trading Co., a unit of U.S.-based Starbucks Corp., would seek to expand its Africa purchasing through the Cafe practices certified coffee program that allowed Starbucks a direct link with farmers and promoted fair prices, said Colman Cuff, the company’s director for trading.

“Africa has high-quality coffee but our largest purchases will remain to be from Latin American, although we will see (other) regions increasing their volumes over the next couple of years,” said Cuff.

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Higher Coffee Prices Brewing

Glut Leads To Lower Prices Followed By Spike

MIAMI -- Coffee prices are perking upward, and Miami importers said the price of coffee could soon jump again -- as much as 50 percent.

Global overproduction of coffee led to extremely low prices over the past few years, but experts said that's changing.

Coffee farmers, frustrated by the low per-bag price they were getting, have now limited crops to make their harvest more valuable. Prices have already risen about 60 percent in the past few months.

According to Bloomberg News, some top coffee producers, including Brazil, Vietnam and Indonesia, are producing smaller and smaller crops. In 2003, Vietnam cut down about 7 percent of the coffee trees in its main growing area, according to the International Herald Tribune. Dry weather in Brazil this year is also expected to impact the supply, and the December tsunami has also had an effect on shipping and exporting.

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What’s in a cup of coffee?

MAGESHINI CHETTY & BIANCA BOTHMA

The sun is beating down mercilessly and there isn't a breath of wind - just like any other day in Ethiopia . The year is 500 AD and a young Yemeni goat herder is trying to escape the sun by resting under a tree on a hilltop.

He watches as the goats rush towards a bush filled with red berries and begin to devour them. The herder is struck with curiosity, as he notices the goats becoming restless and excited. Desperate for an explanation, the puzzled goat herder decides to sample the berries himself and immediately after eating a few of them he feels invigorated.
According to www.partnerscoffee.com, this seemingly obscure event is how coffee was discovered. Farming website www.arc.agric.za reports that t he first coffee in South Africa was planted in KwaZulu-Natal at a missionary station during the late 1880s.

Coffee has now become one of the most popular beverages on the globe and the average coffee shop or café has more than ten different types of coffee to choose from.

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Ethiopia's Coffee to Witness Record High Price

The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)

Hayal Alemayehu
Addis Ababa

Some selected coffee varieties growing in Ethiopia are expected to fetch a minimum of four to five US dollars per pound, a price that would be by far an all time record high for coffee beans exported from the land, Abraham Begashaw, head of coffee and tea quality control Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development told The Daily Monitor.

Identified as best quality coffee types by International Cuppers last Saturday, the beans will be auctioned via Internet in May, where a number of specialty coffee buyers are expected to bid for the produces, according Phyllis Johnson, owner of a US company (B.D Imports) that buys specialty coffee from African countries.

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