Coffee is a product grown best in a large of portion of the world between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn known as “The Bean Belt”. “The Bean Belt” includes many tropical areas and countries such as, India, Central-Northern South America, Southern Mexico, a majority of Africa, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, The Philippines and Northern Australia.
The reasoning as to why these places are sublime for growing coffee, is that these places have great growing conditions for coffee as there is rich soil, mild temperatures, lots of rain and plenty of shaded sun, all conditions that coffee plants love to grow in.
The production process of coffee is quite prolonged and involves many different steps. The first step is, of course, growing the beans, performed by countries within “The Bean Belt” in the best conditions possible. Next is harvesting, in which coffee bean farmers must continually check for any ripe beans so they can be picked at their freshest state. The beans are then dried and packed into very sizeable sacks by the farmers which are passed on to major exporters. These exporters then given to big companies specializing in coffee, who supply industrial roasting and distribution centres who, obviously, roast and distribute the beans. Finally, through a very large variety of transportation, the beans are transferred to retailers and businesses that are involved in the selling/using of the beans.
3. The demand and production for Coffee is spatially distributed throughout America, Africa and Asia as they are the main continents for the making of coffee beans. The countries that import most of the coffee are in the areas of North America, Japan and Europe. They are also involved in the distribution, manufacturing and consumption of coffee. All countries are located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn in dissimilarity to the importing countries which are mostly positioned above the Tropic of Cancer.
Most countries import coffee beans, process it and then export it. That’s why you would see patterns of sizeable import and export of a certain commodity. This is done so buyers can have the amount needed for certain products. For example: Brazil might import and export coffee beans in sizes per 60 kilograms whereas another country like India might import and export in sizes per 40 kilograms. Another difference between other places of importation and exportation can be due to the importance for the development and growth of national economies. This is because not all countries have the privileges to create a certain amount of coffee.
For example: America might have more industrial technology and climate reliability then Europe.
4. The spatial patterns of coffee production and demands create a network of trades and economic interdependence. Networks that are created due to the trade of coffee between exporting regions and importing countries affect many people. There is a growing interdependence between the coffee producing countries and manufacturing countries. Coffee is an important source of export and there are many jobs which impact people in a good way like…
Truck Drivers
Buyers and Sellers
Shipping company employees
Loaders and Unloaders
People who weigh the bags of coffee
People who remove the cherry fruit located inside the coffee seed and take it through the drying process
There are a few problems with the production of coffee like many pests, fungi and diseases, climate change and unpredictable rain, labour shortages as well us price fluctuation and unreliable income. Fortunately, this can be avoided by spraying chemicals on coffee beans which avoid any problems in it without the spray damaging the coffee bean itself. Weather stations can be added further away from the coffee bean farms which will give plenty notice before any change happens. There should be backup staff incase others cannot help out with the production of coffee beans and if prices do fluctuate, then more coffee beans will have to be produced.
