Coffee- Food Commodity

Question 1

Where it’s grown

Answer 1

. Hot, wet climate
. Areas close to the equator
. Coffee producers: Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia

Question 2

Issues with coffee production

Answer 2

. Coffee plants can be susceptible to a range of diseases e.g coffee leaf rust

. Coffee can be destroyed with insects e.g black twig borer

. Certain Weather conditions make outbreaks of disease and pests more likely

Question 3

Coffee is traded globally

Answer 3

. Produced by less developed countries
. Brazil is largest coffee producer
. USA is largest importer

Question 4

Supply and demand

Answer 4

. If demand for coffee increases and supply remains the same then the global coffee price increases

. If supply for coffee increases and demand remains the same then the global coffee price will decrease

Question 5

The coffee trade dominated by TNCs (5)

Answer 5

. Only 7-10% of the price of coffee bought in a supermarket goes to coffee
Farmers because they only sell the unprocessed bean which is low value

. TNCs buy the beans and roast them, increasing their value

. Coffee farmers are from less developed countries and TNCs are from more developed countries

. TNCs can pick and choose where they buy their coffee from

. Coffee producing countries compete with each other to cut wages, labour regulations and environmental protection in order to attract TNCs ( called race to the bottom)- can cause farmers to go out of business

Question 6

The fair trade

Answer 6

. Fairtrade foundation- 1992
. Include fairtrade minimum price , which is the minimum price the coffee buyer has to pay- it prevents coffee farmers going out of business
. Global scales of Fairtrade coffee grew around 15,000 tonnes to over 80,000 tonnes per year