Brazil increased it's coffee production to an amazing 46
million bags in 2008, easily beating it's closest rivals,
Vietnam (19 miliion bags) and Colombia (13 million bags)
That's a staggering 7500 tonnes of coffee, harvested,
bagged and stored for each and every day of the year! Of
course these processes are done at different times
throughout the year, but whichever way you look at it,
there is an awful lot of coffee in Brazil!
Over 75% of this production was Arabica coffee, with the
state of Minas Gerais on its own producing more than 23
million bags - getting on for nearly twice as much as the
whole of Colombia. Minas Gerais (which roughly translates
to 'General Mines') is situated in the south east of the
country and is the third largest state in Brazil. The
mineral mines founded in the eighteenth century are likely
to have given it's name.
In this same century, coffee was first introduced to Brazil
by a government official named Francisco de Mello Palheta.
According to the intriguing story, back in 1727 he was
invited to mediate a heated border dispute between French
and Dutch Guiana, whose governments were actively growing
coffee in Guiana. Both closely guarded their financial
interests by strictly forbidding the exportation of coffee
seeds and plants.
Palheta quickly accepted the invitation with hopes of
somehow obtaining some seeds for planting coffee back in
Brazil, and rather conveniently became romantically
involved with the French Governors wife. Upon his
departure, after successfully mediating a solution to the
border issue, and doubtless pleasing the Governors wife,
she presented him with a bouquet of flowers in which she
had hidden several coffee seedlings.
The seedlings flourished and the Brazilian farmers quickly
learned the art of growing coffee, putting the emphasis on
quantity rather than quality. This has historically been
the Brazilian way of coffee production.
Today, however, Brazil is becoming a significant player in
the specialty coffee industry. Bourbon, Typica, Caturra,
and Mundo Novo coffee varieties are grown in the states of
Paraná, Espirito Santos, São Paulo, Minas Gerais,
and Bahia.
As the worlds largest producer of coffee, the Brazilians do
at least practice what they preach, as they are second only
to the United States in being the worlds largest actual
consumers of coffee.
Coffee is produced commercially in many countries of the
world but Brazil is the largest producer by a country mile!
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For more information about coffee and coffee making
equipment visit http://www.cafebar.co.uk
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