Coffee
In almost all languages in the world, the word coffee has the same origin: Kaffee – Coffee (except in East Africa where the bean is called Buni or M'buni)
The story goes that coffee as we drink it, can be traced back to goat herder, Kaldi, who lived in Ethiopia centuries ago. Kaldi noticed that his goats became very active after eating the berries from a certain tree. He took some berries with him and told his findings to the abbots from the local monastery. When they sat outside near the fire in the evening the one of the Abbotts started to chew on the berries, but he got bored by the taste and spit the beans into the fire Then the nice smell of roasted coffee beans was there and the monks decided to do some experiments with this beans. And a new drink was born!
Being produced in around 70 countries, coffee is the world’s second most important export product for the developing countries after crude oil.
The two most economically important varieties of coffee plant are the Arabica and the Robusta;
Arabica variety is descended from the original coffee trees discovered in Ethiopia. These trees produce a fine, mild, aromatic coffee and represent approximately 70% of the world's coffee production. The better Arabicas are high grown coffees – generally grown between 700 to 1800 meters above sea level. Arabica beans consist of 0.8 – 1.4% caffeine
Robusta variety is mostly grown in Central and Western Africa, parts of Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Vietnam, and in Brazil. Production of Robusta is increasing, though it accounts for only about 30% of the world’s coffee production. Robusta is primarily used in blends and for instant coffees. The Robusta tree is resistant to disease and parasites, and grows on lower altitudes which makes it easier and cheaper to cultivate. Robusta beans consist of 1.7–4.0% caffeine
- 60 % of the world’s coffee comes from Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia.
- 70 % of the world’s coffee is consumed in the European Union, USA, Brazil, Japan and Canada.
ARASCO is trading both Arabica and Robusta green, unroasted coffee beans. Our main origins are Brazil, Colombia, Vietnam, Indonesia and India. Our network allows us to supply any origin, depending on your needs.
Additional to conventional, ARASCO offers certified as sustainably sources coffee also. ARASCO is committed to sustainable, socially responsible leadership within the industry. To ensure this philosophy we’ve adhered to various certification schemes: Organic (Skal), Fairtrade and. We are also fully engaged in supporting supply chains to become certified.
Coffee Trading
The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is for Arabica and London is for Robusta most prominent exchange for trading coffee and its corresponding futures contracts. The prices of the coffee futures contracts on this exchange are a benchmark for other prices around the world.