History of coffee in Brazil
The coffee plant was first introduced to Brazil by French settlers in the early 18th century, with coffee fields quickly spreading from the north of Brazil across the rest of the country, generally in areas close to the coastline.
By 1820, coffee had become the most exported product in the international markets, with production peaking once coffee plantations reached Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro states. During the 19th century Brazilian coffee was the number one beverage filling European and American cups, and by 1840 Brazil was recognised as the largest coffee exporter in the world.
During this time a new society formed in the country, governed by so-called ‘coffee barons’, who were the wealthy owners of the coffee plantations. These coffee barons not only held economic power in Brazil, but also had strong influence in the direction of the country’s future presidents’ elections.
Following the abolition of slavery in 1888, Brazil’s coffee production almost collapsed. Government programs were introduced to encourage European immigrants to work in Brazil’s coffee fields. This solution went a long way to broadening Brazilian society and accelerated the country’s urbanisation and internal markets.
However, the Great Depression of 1929 affected even the most profitable economic activities and coffee was no exception. The United States and Europe were the largest buyers of Brazilian coffee, but during the Depression prices plunged and thousands of bags of coffee had to be burned, bringing such a loss to some of its producers that they would never recover.
Brazil has been the world’s largest provider of coffee for the last 150 years, producing around a third of all coffee in the world. The country continues to be unrivalled in total production of green coffee, Arabica coffee and instant coffee.
