Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Coffee demand versus supply
American coffee culture analysis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Coffee demand versus supply
Ever since its discovery, coffee has continued to spread its bitter or sweet taste all over the world. When taking a look at coffee’s journey from its simple beginnings, to its complex processing, and to its extensive use and consumption, one cannot help but be amazed at how prosperous and vital it has become American foodways.
Coffee’s backgrounds are surprisingly diverse. Many of the characteristics, as well as the credit for its distribution, have come from several different cultures. For example, the word “coffee” is devised from the Arabic root word qahwah (Kaye 557). Kaye continues to explain how although the etymology originally derives from qahwah, the evolution to today’s word “coffee” is also greatly influenced by the phonetics of the Turk word kahva and African word kaffa (557-558). The origin of coffee, location-wise, is agreed on dating back to the 9th century in the mountains of Ethiopia, from there, it spread to the rest of the world (Mangal 1). Coffee gained more popularity by the 15th century when it was introduced to Persia, Egypt, Northern Africa, and Turkey by Muslims, and later introduced to Europe and Asia by the Dutch in the 17th Century (Mangal 2). Finally, coffee first spread to North America when French settlers brought its seeds to the Caribbean in the early 1700s (Rice 558).
Coffee-growing is relatively easy. Mangal lists the five procedures needed to plant coffee trees: Prepare the land, Plant windbreaks, Mark out the rows, Establish shade trees, and Irrigation (22). All can be done by the average citizen with not much agricultural experience. Some places, like Wattles Farm community garden in Hollywood, CA, offer three-hour tours of their coffee plantation, where they teach these principles to even...
... middle of paper ...
...sumption in the world has been growing at an average annual rate of 2.5% in the past 12 years." LexisNexis® Academic & Library Solutions. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.
Kaye, Alan S. "The etymology of "coffee"." Journal of the American Oriental
Society (1986):557-558.
Kwok, Yenni. "World Most Expensive Coffee." Time . Time Inc., 2 Oct. 2013. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
Mangal, S K. Coffee. Gene-Tech Books, (2007).
Okunade, Albert A. "Functional forms and habit effects in the US demand for coffee."
Applied economics 24.11 (1992):1203-1212.
Rice, Robert A. "A PLACE UNBECOMING: THE COFFEE FARM OF NORTHERN
LATIN AMERICA*." Geographical review 89.4 (1999):554-579.
Spurrier, Jeff. "How to grow your own coffee: It's easy, sort of." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2013. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
“Starbucks Investor Relations." Starbucks.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
Though, the origin of the cacao bean is indefinite, the first instant that Europeans encountered cacao beans is alleged to have been in 1502 between Christopher Columbus and the ancient Mayan civilization. Initial impressions were less than satisfactory. Christopher Columbus having believed the beans were “shriveled almonds” (Rosenblum 6), . During Hernan Cortez’s voyage to the Aztec Empire of the Americas during 1517, he was introduced to the Emperor Montezuma’s favorite drink “chocolatl”. Though, he also was not very appreciative of the drink, Cortez was fascinated with the very idea that cacao beans were used as a form of currency among the Aztec. The Spanish would pay Aztec laborers in cacao beans, as they would load their treasure ships with deposits of silver and gold. For this reason, the Spanish nicknamed the cacao bean “black gold” (Lopez 19). Still, it was Spanish monks and missionaries who recognized the value of cacao beans as a medial t...
Wandering in Seattle, you can see a lot of people holding a cup in their hands. What are they all drinking? Coffee! The smell of coffee may represent one of the Seattle’s tempting scent. People in Seattle have a great fancy of coffee. It might because of the rainy days in Seattle, coffee might be seen as an element to enliven the dank life. Also, it might because people here are really relaxed. Coffee has already entered into the spirit of Seattle. Coffee shops scatter in every corner of Seattle. People always like to bring magazines, newspapers, and laptops there for reading, chatting, surfing the internet, and working. Enjoying the wonderful atmosphere in coffee shops after the busy work is a wonderful way for people to relax themselves. The coffee culture has promoted economic consumption level in Seattle. The annual coffee consumption in Seattle is huge, and Seattle is the origin of the world’s largest coffee shop chain, Starbucks. It was first opened in Seattle in 1971 with an invisible shop in the Pike Place. But nowadays, Starbuck owns more than 6000 branches all over the worl...
Until about 1990, coffee was traded in a managed market, where both consuming and producing countries agreed on pre-determined coffee supply levels through export quotas for the producing country. This managed market was regulated by the International Coffee Agreement (ICA). But in 1990, disagreements broke out among the countries and the ICA was broke down. This, along with market liberalization, created an increase in the global coffee production. The increase in coffee supply brought on a rise in inventories in consumer countries along with a poor demand. One of the consequences of this shift was a change in power to the roasting and retailing industries and created a decrease in the prices that were paid to producers. This whole scenario is known as the coffee crisis.
Caffeine and coffee are a daily part of life for most people in modern society. The discovery of the coffee bean is said to have been in Ethiopia, when a sleepy eyed goat herder noticed his goats eating red berries, he then noticed the effect it had on them as they jumped and danced around him. He then tasted the berries and his eyes opened wide, he took them to the local village who also liked it and in particular the monks who used the berries to keep them awake during meditation.
The most important part of the cup of coffee, the coffee beans, is typically harvested from South America, mainly because of the fact that Starbucks uses Arabica beans (Weinberg 1), which is dependent on a temperate climate that exists on the majority of the continent. The country that provides the biggest market supply of coffee beans for Starbucks is Brazil ...
He spent all his time at the stores trying to make everything perfect in every way. He started with the employees, making the environment so friendly for every type of coffee lover. One of his biggest ideas came from visiting Italy and going to a coffee shop and seeing the idea of an espresso bar.
When Starbucks started their target market were people who enjoyed coffee not just for the energy boost that they got from the caffeine, but people who enjoyed sitting down and drinking a well-prepared cup of coffee. Upon visiting Italy and falling in love with the coffee bars and the experience that they offered, Schultz envisioned a place between home and work where you could just sit and enjoy your coffee. Starbucks wanted to control their coffee from “raw green bean to the steaming cup” this meant that they had to talk with their farmers to make sure the quality was up to their standards. They
In the United States, coffee is the second largest import (Roosevelt, 2004). Furthermore, the United States, consumes one-fifth of all the worlds¡¦ coffee (Global Exchange, 2004). The present industry is expanding. It is estimated that North America¡¦s sector will reach saturation levels within 5 year (Datamonitor. n.d.). According to National Coffee Association (NCA), 8 out of 10 Americans consume coffee. In addition, it is estimated that half of the American population drinks coffee daily. The international market remains highly competitive. It is estimated that 3,300 cups of coffee are consumed every second of the day worldwide (Ecomall, n.d.). The latest trends included dual drinkers, an increase in senior citizens...
Coffee market in Taiwan is also important. Since 1998, Starbucks enter the Taiwan coffee market, more people have adapted the habit of drinking coffee (De Pelsmacker, Driessen and Rayp, 2005). Taiwanese consumers have more opportunities to face different types of coffee options. Consumers usually have positive attitudes for ethically made products. Most of consumer would be willing to pay a higher price for fair trade coffee, but they care more about the brand, label, and taste of the coffee
Without having to travel more than a few miles in an urban city of today, one can taste, smell, and experience many of the edible remnants left behind by hundreds of years of culture that preceded present day. There is rich history to be found in the items that we consume. Two of these refreshments are coffee and tea, which both have similar roots and played a heavy hand during specific golden ages. In contrast, the movements they sparked and the remaining resulting impacts diverge.
Besides the high demand and cost for gasoline these days, coffee is considered the second most traded commodity on worldwide markets next to oil. "Coffee is grown in more than 50 countries in a band around the equator and provides a living for more than 20 million farmers. Altogether, up to 100 million people worldwide are involved in the growing, processing, trading and retailing of the product" (Spilling the Beans , ). In 2001, coffee farmers and plantations produced over 15 billion pounds of coffee while the world market only bought 13 billion pounds. The overproduction in the coffee industry is not a usual thing and is one of the major reasons why prices vary throughout the industry.
Coffee has its history as far back of the 9th century .It is believed to be originated in Ethiopia, particularly in the south western parts of the country called Kaffa (Wilson p-45) . The etymology of coffee presumed to be taken was from kaffa where it was originated.
It appears that coffee was discovered in the ninth century after a goatherd named Kaldi found the berries that his sheep were eating made his sheep and then himself unusually energetic. The stimulating berries after being roasted and brewed eventually evolved into coffee as a hot drink and became popular throughout Arabia, Turkey and Europe by the seventeenth century. (Thomson, 2006). In 1901, the first successful technique for manufacturing a stable powered product was invented by Sartori Kato, a Japanese chemist living in America. Kato received a patent for his invention and the instant coffee history was made. He then set up his own coffee company named Kato Coffee Company in Chicago (Stefanie, n.d.).
When people think coffee shop, the first name that pops into their head is usually Starbucks. Pike Place Market, located in downtown Seattle, is home to the first Starbucks. The doors to this coffee house were opened in 1971 by three graduates of the University of San Francisco. The establishment was later bought by Howard Schultz in 1987. His vision was to bring an Italian like coffee house to the United States. There are now currently more than 18,000 Starbucks stores, in over 62 countries. The average price for a specialty coffee is five dollars a cup, most would say this is an outrageous price to pay, yet millions of people pay the price daily. There are many factors to why this business became so successful despite its high prices.
A simple cup of drip coffee can be mastered by any novice. It's to coffee making what coloring in the lines is to art, a small challenge. It take a true coffee connoisseur to master the espresso or latte. I am proud to be such a connoisseur. Learning to make a proper cup of coffee is akin to an art apprentice learning under a great painter. You slowly work your way up. I learned from my mother. I started making coffee with "Taster's Choice" coffee crystals. I moved on to drip coffee, until graduating to the espresso machine. While it takes training and practice to make a latte, I think it also requires a certain talent. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but most people who've had one of my lattes agree that mine are the best.