Coffee in the 20th century
In the early 20th century, Brazil was the world’s biggest coffee producer. Today almost the entire production of coffee comes from Central America, Brazil and the tropical parts of South America. World coffee production amounts to around 100 million bags a year with Brazil in first place representing about ¼ of total production. 8 ½ million bags are produced in Brazil.
Coffee roasting in the home was definitively replaced by the finished industrial product. In 1901 the Japanese Dr Sartori Kato presented the first soluble coffee powder. In 1938 the Nestlé company laid the foundation for the commercial marketing of soluble coffee (instant coffee).
The scale of coffee use is reflected in the trend of world raw coffee consumption in the last 250 years.
1750: 600,000 bags, 1850: 4 million bags, 1950: 36 million bags, 1995: 94 million bags, 2000: 103 million bags.
The demand for coffee has made this hot beverage the second most important traded commodity after petroleum products. This trend was accompanied by phases of overproduction, incineration of surplus stocks, collapsing prices, world economic crisis, declining consumption during the two world wars and the creation of world coffee agreements to stabilize coffee prices. In Germany after the end of the Second World War, coffee became a symbol of economic reconstruction and the economic miracle. Coffee drinking was synonymous with being able to afford things again.
