Coffee merchandising

The coffee belt of the world lies between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The coffee tree, while native to Abyssinia and Ethiopia, grows well in Java, Sumatra, and other islands of the Dutch East Indies; in India, Arabia, equatorial Africa, the Pacific islands, Mexico, Central and South America, and the West Indies.

The leading growths that find favor in the world’s markets are listed in the Commercial Coffee Chart on page 36, reproduced from All About Coffee, where they are described in greater detail. Their general trade uses are, however, discussed farther along in this work in the chapter entitled, “Green and Roasted Coffee Characteristics.”

Mexico is the principal producing country in the northern part of the western continent, and Brazil in the southern part. In Africa, the eastern coast furnishes the greater part of the supply; while, in Asia, the Netherlands Indies, British India, and Arabia lead.

Within the last two decades there has been an expansion of the production areas in South America, Africa, and in southeastern Asia, and a contraction in British India and the Netherlands Indies.

In Mexico, although coffee growing is widely distributed in most of the more southern states, the principal coffee territory is Vera Cruz, where lie the districts of Cordoba, Orizaba, Huatusco, and Coatepec. In the same region are the Jalapa district and the mountains of Puebla, where considerable coffee is grown. Farther south are the Oaxaca districts on the mountain slopes of the Pacific Coast, and still farther south the districts in the state of Chiapas. The youngest district is Soconusco. On the Gulf slope of Oaxaca are many plantations; also in the western regions of the table lands of Colima and Michoacan.

In Guatemala, coffee is grown on the table lands of three great mountain ranges. The principal districts are Costa Cuca, Costa Grande, Barberena, Tumbador, Coban, Costa de Cucho, Chicacao, Xolhuitz, Pochuta, Malacatan, San Marcos, Chuva, Panan, Turgo, Escuintla, San Vincente, Pacaya, Antigua, Moran, Amatitlan, Sumatan, Palmar, Zunil, and Montagua.

In Salvador, the berry is grown in all districts that have altitudes of 1,500 to 4,000 feet. The most productive plantations are in the departments of La Paz, Santa Ana, Sonsonate, San Salvador, San Vincente, San Miguel, Santa Tecla, and Ahuachapam.

In Costa Rica, the coffee-growing districts are principally on the Pacific slope and in the central plateaus of the interior. Plantations are in the provinces of Cartago, Tres Rios, San José, Heredia, and Alajuela.

The principal plantations in Honduras are in the departments of Santa Barbara, Copan, Cortez, La Paz, Choluteca, and El Paraiso. British Honduras doesn’t raise enough coffee for domestic consumption. In Nicaragua, the most extensive plantings are in the departments of Managua, Carazo, Matagalpa, Chontales, and Jinotega. The best district for coffee growing in Panama is Bugaba, where great suitable areas exist, but the Boquete district in the province of Chiriqui produces the bulk of Panama’s coffee.

On the island of Haiti, coffee grows well in the republic of Haiti and in the Dominican Republic. The principal plantations are in the vicinity of the town of Moca in the eastern or Santo Domingo section of the island, and in the districts of Santiago, Bani, and Barahona.

In Jamaica four parishes lead in coffee producing,—Manchester, St. Thomas, Clarendon, and St. Andrew. A few estates in the Blue Mountains produce the famed Blue Mountain variety.

In Porto Rico, the coffee belt extends through the western half of the island beginning in the hills along the south coast around Ponce and extending north through the center of the island almost to Arecibo, near the western end of the north coast. Some coffee is grown in 64 of the 68 municipalities. The largest plantations are in Utuado, Adjuntas, Lares, Las Marias, Yauco, Maricao, San Sebastian, Mayaguez, Ciales, and Ponce.

Coffee can be grown in practically every island of the West Indies, and is grown in a small way in many of them. Little is produced for international trade except in the islands already mentioned. Cuba was formerly a heavy producer, but now only a small quantity is grown there, and she has been forced to import from Porto Rico to supply her own needs. Guadeloupe grows coffee, some of which is shipped to Martinique and exported as the product of that country; no longer the coffee producer it was in the 18th century after De Clieu introduced the plant there. Small amounts of coffee are grown on Trinidad and Tobago.

Colombian coffees are grown in nearly all departments where the elevations range from 3,500 to 6,500 feet. Chief among them are Antioquia (capital, Medellin); Caldas (capital, Manizales); Magdalena (capital, Santa Marta); Santander (capital, Bucaramanga); Tolima (capital, Ibague); and the Federal District (capital, Bogotá). The department of Cundinamarca produces a coffee that is counted one of the best of Colombian grades. The finest grades are grown in the foothills of the Andes, in altitudes 3,500 to 4,500 feet above sea level.

In Venezuela, there are no great coffee belts as in Mexico and Central America. Many districts are days rides apart. The chain of the Maritime Andes, reaching eastward across Colombia and Venezuela, approaches the Caribbean coast in the latter country. Along the slopes and foothills of these mountains are produced some of the finest grades of South American coffee. Here the best coffee grows in the tierra templada and in the lower part of the tierra fria, and is known as the café de tierra fria, or coffee of the cold, or high, land. In these regions the equable climate, the constant and adequate moisture, the rich and well-drained soil, and the protecting forest shade afford the conditions under which the plant grows and thrives best. On the fertile lowland valleys nearer the coast grows the café de tierra caliente, or coffee of the hot land.

The Guianas (British, Dutch, and French) grow coffee, but little more than is needed for home consumption.

Brazil’s commercial coffee-growing region has an estimated area of 1,158,000 square miles, and extends from the river Amazon to the southern border of the state of São Paulo, and from the Atlantic Coast to the western boundary of the state of Matto Grosso. This area is larger than that section of the United States lying east of the Mississippi River, with Texas added. In every state of the republic, from Ceará in the north to Santa Catharina in the south, the coffee tree can be cultivated profitably, and is, in fact, more or less grown in every state, if only for domestic use. However, little attention is given to coffee growing in the north, except in Pernambuco, which has only about 1,500,000 trees, as compared with the 764,000,000 trees of São Paulo in 1922.

The chief coffee-growing plantations in Brazil are on plateaus seldom less than 1,800 feet above sea level, and ranging up to 4,000 feet. The principal coffee-growing districts are in the states of São Paulo, Rio, Minas Geraes, Bahia, and Espirito Santo.

Coffee is grown in a small way in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Argentina. Ecuador gives the greatest promise. Cayo is the leading district.

In Arabia, coffee growing is confined to the mountains in the vilayet of Yemen, a district along the southwestern coast, back from the Red Sea. Coffee can be grown almost anywhere in Yemen, but it is cultivated entirely in small gardens in a few scattered districts, and the total acreage is not large.

In India, half of the coffee-producing area is in Mysore; other plantations are to be found in Kurg (Coorg), the Madras districts of Malabar, and in the Nilgiri hills.

In the East India Islands, Java and Sumatra lead. Coffee is produced commercially in nearly every political district in Java, but the bulk of the yield is obtained from East Java. The names best known to the trade are those of the regencies of Besoeki and Pasoeroean, because their coffees make up 87 percent of Java’s production. Some of the better known districts are Preanger, Cheribon, Kadoe, Samarang, Soerabaya, and Tegal. Practically all the coffee districts in Sumatra are on the west coast, with Padang as headquarters. The best known are Angola, Siboga, Ayer Bangies, Mandheling, Palembang, Padang, and Benkoelen. The east coast has recently gone in for heavy plantings of Robusta. Coffee is also grown in several other islands of Dutch East Indies, chiefly Celebes, Bali, Lombok, the Moluccas, and Timor. In the Malay States, Liberica is mostly grown.

In Africa, Abyssinia supplies two coffees known as Harar and Abyssinian. The former is grown in the province of Harar and mostly around the city of Harar. The latter is the fruit of wild Arabica trees that grow mainly in the provinces of Sidamo, Kaffa, and Guma. Coffee also grows in Angola, where there are large areas of wild trees; in Liberia, Uganda, Nyasaland, and Kenya Colony.

The Kona side of the island of Hawaii produces the best known Hawaiian coffee. Other districts are Hamakua, Puna, and Olaa.

The Philippines produce a negligible amount of coffee, as does also the Queensland district of Australia. The industry is being developed in French Indo-China, however, where Robusta has been found to do very well. Some coffee is still grown in Ceylon, but it is commercially unimportant.

COMMERCIAL COFFEE CHART

World’s Leading Growths, with Market Names
and General Trade Characteristics