Coffee is the second most widely traded commodity in the world (after oil).
The coffee tree produces its first crop when it is about five years old but can produce berries for more than 50 years.
It takes approximately 60 coffee beans to make one average size cup of coffee and 2,000 hand-picked Arabica coffee cherries to make one pound of roasted coffee.
Coffee harvesting is extremely labour intensive; only 20 per cent of farms are mechanised.
Some 80 per cent of the world's coffee farmers are smallholders working on less than three hectares.
There are two types of coffee bean: the Robusta grows better at lower altitudes while the Arabica prefers high altitudes.
The best soil for growing coffee consists of leaf mould, other organic matter and volcanic rock.
Seven million tons of coffee are produced worldwide but only 25 per cent is consumed in the producing countries.
The main suppliers of coffee are Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam.
The main coffee drinking countries are the US, Japan and Europe.