Coffee: Overview
From café espresso to instant jars and capsules
What this tab covers What the commodity is used for, why, in what volumes and with what alternatives, and its chain from mine or field to end user. Also the latest price moves, top recent news, three things to know, and buttons into each tab.Key uses
| Use | Share | Annual volume | Why this commodity | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arabica: roast-and-ground, espresso, specialty and premium blends | 57% | about 102 million 60-kg bags (6.1 Mt) a yearbasis | Arabica grows at altitude and gives the sweeter, more acidic cup that roasters sell at a premium. It is the deliverable grade on the ICE Coffee C contract and dominates North American and European retail and cafe coffee. ICO coffee market report, November 2024 (coffee year 2023/24, as summarised by CropGPT) | Robusta (in blends, when arabica is expensive) Tea Other caffeinated drinks |
| Robusta: soluble (instant) coffee, espresso blends, ready-to-drink and capsules | 43% | about 76 million bags (4.5 Mt) a yearbasis | Robusta is cheaper, hardier, higher in caffeine and gives more soluble solids per kilo, so it is preferred for instant coffee and for crema in espresso blends. India and Vietnam export mainly robusta; instant coffee is about one-third of India's coffee export earnings (StoneX, 2026). ICO coffee market report, November 2024 (coffee year 2023/24, as summarised by CropGPT); StoneX Insights, 2026 | Arabica Chicory (traditional filter blends in South India) Tea |
| Out-of-home consumption: cafes, offices, restaurants, vending | n/a | n/a basis | Cafe chains and offices buy roasted beans and pods under supply contracts; this channel drives premium arabica demand and the spread of coffee culture in China, India and the Middle East. not available | Tea and chai Energy drinks |
| Decaffeination by-product and other uses (caffeine for drinks and pharmaceuticals, coffee extracts, husk and pulp) | n/a | n/a basis | Decaffeination yields natural caffeine; cherry pulp and husks are used for compost, fuel or cascara tea. These are small value streams. not available | Synthetic caffeine Other biomass fuels |
From field to user
- Planting and farm care Trees bear after about three years. Brazil grew 30.0% and Vietnam 17.9% of world green coffee in 2024 (FAOSTAT). Indian coffee is shade-grown, mostly in Karnataka (about 70% of output).
- Harvest of coffee cherries Hand-picked on smallholdings and in hilly areas; strip- or machine-harvested on flat Brazilian farms. Indian robusta yields about 1,239 kg/ha and arabica 452 kg/ha (USDA FAS Mumbai projection for 2026-27).
- Primary processing Natural (dry) processing dries whole cherries; washed (wet) processing pulps, ferments and washes the beans; honey and pulped-natural methods are in between.
- Hulling, grading and export Dried parchment or cherry is hulled to green beans, sorted and shipped in 60-kg bags or bulk containers. World exports of all forms were 78.5 million bags in October 2024-April 2025 alone (ICO).
- Roasting or soluble manufacture Roasters in Germany, Italy, the US and Switzerland roast and blend; soluble plants (Nestle, CCL Products, Tata Consumer) brew, concentrate and spray- or freeze-dry.
- Retail, cafes and consumers World consumption was 177.0 million bags in 2023/24 (ICO); 68% is drunk in importing countries.
Price movement snapshot 2026-10-25
ICE arabica coffee "C" futures 306 US cents/lb Close 2026-10-23 · Yahoo Finance 1 week +0.1% 6 months +0.6% World production 11.3 m tonnes, 2024 Largest producer Brazil 30.02% of worldThree things to know
- World green coffee output nearly doubled, from 6.06 Mt in 1990 to 11.28 Mt in 2024 (FAOSTAT).
- In real 2010 dollars, Arabica averaged $7.29/kg in 2025, about 2.6 times its 2013 level of $2.80.
- Radetzki & Wårell found the top five exporters held only 40% of coffee exports, low for a commodity with a cartel history.
Top recent news snapshot 2026-10-25, last 30 days
- Arabica coffee touches one-month high as stocks remain critically lowLivemint · 2026-10-16
- Deficit rain, borer likely to hurt India’s arabica crop this yearBusinessLine · 2026-10-16
- Arabica coffee futures reach one-month high on supply concernsInvesting.com · 2026-10-19
- Earnings-led sell-off drags multibagger CCL Products to 7-month low. Can it fall further? Axis Direct rationaleLivemint · 2026-10-19
- ICO September report: record Brazilian coffee crop eases pricesGlobal Coffee Report · 2026-10-14