The Coffee Exporter's Guide - International Trade Centre

ROAST AND GROUND COFFEE
Estimates suggest that some 100 million bags or 76% of
all coffee consumed in the world (including that consumed
in producing countries) is roast and ground. In importing
countries, about 75% of consumption is roast and ground,
and of this about 87% is roasted in-country. The remainder
is imported from other consuming countries and also, but to
a lesser extent, from producing countries.
In some regions the cross-border trade in coffee roasted
by importing countries themselves is growing strongly. The
European Union dominates this trade, and in 2010 had 77%
of world exports of roasted coffee. Producing countries
accounted for around 1.5% of this trade in roasted coffee.
The United States, Canada and a small number of other
countries made up the remaining 21.5%.
The market for roast and ground coffee is dominated by
large multinationals (Kraft Foods, Nestlé and Sara Lee/DE),
despite the fact that in many countries there has been a
resurgence in small, locally-based roasters. The bulk of
roast and ground coffee consumed in importing countries
is blended (usually before roasting) to ensure a certain
uniformity in the fi nished product. Blending increases the
roasters’ fl exibility, making them less dependent on a single
source of supply. It also allows them to compensate for
seasonal changes in the taste of coffee beans and to switch
to other coffees if there are any problems with availability or
price.
Roasting develops the coffee’s fl avour and fragrance; the
higher the roast the more the fl avour is developed. Lightly
roasted beans produce a thin, almost straw-coloured liquid
with little fl avour except perhaps acidity, although the weight
loss is less. A darker roast will give a dark liquid, which may
have lost acidity but has gained body and stronger fl avour,
although the weight loss will be higher. The darker the roast,
the greater the cell destruction and fragmentation. This
facilitates the extraction of solubles, but too dark a roast
merely leaves a burnt fl avour.
Roast and ground coffee has a shorter shelf life than soluble
coffee. It loses quality the longer it is exposed to air, so it is
frequently packed in vacuum or gas-fl ushed packs.
INSTANT OR SOLUBLE COFFEE
The term ‘instant coffee’ or ‘soluble coffee’ encompasses
spray-dried powder, freeze-dried powder and liquefi ed forms
of coffee such as liquid concentrates. All of these methods of
processing involve dehydrating brewed roasted and ground
coffee. The freeze-dried method produces a superior but
more expensive product.
Figure 2.4 shows that world consumption of soluble coffee is
rising relatively strongly after a number of years of stagnation,
expanding from 22.8 million bags (green bean equivalent) in
CHAPTER 2 – THE MARKETS FOR COFFEE 19
2000 to 31.1 million bags in 2010, although as a percentage
of overall consumption it has remained relatively fl at.
Figure 2.4 Consumption of soluble coffee – 2000, 2005 and
2010
Million bags
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Western
Europe
North
America
Source: NKG Statistics.
Japan Total
importing
countries
Producing World total
countries
2000
2005
2010
In Europe, growth in demand has been relatively modest at
around 0.2% a year in recent years, which is considerably
slower than the overall growth in consumption for all types
of coffee. In the United Kingdom, where soluble coffee
accounts for around 75% of total consumption, demand
was beginning to show signs of actual decline, but has
been revitalized in recent years by the growing interest in
speciality instant coffees (such as instant cappuccino).
Elsewhere in Europe, however, the introduction of new
specialty instant coffee products also increased demand
for soluble coffee, but the trend appears to have been
short lived. The Deutscher Kaffeeverband estimate that the
instant coffee share of demand in Germany rose from 6.2%
to over 7.5% between 1998 and 2005 refl ecting this surge
in demand for these speciality instant products, only to fall
back to 4.1% in 2010.
Much of the recent growth in soluble coffee consumption can
be attributed to a rise in demand in Eastern Europe, and East
and South-East Asia – both regions where soluble coffee
enjoys a high market share. In East and South-East Asia there
has been tremendous growth in the demand for the product
known as ‘3-in-1’, a beverage that combines the convenience
of soluble coffee with a non-dairy creamer and sugar, usually
in single-serve sachets purchased one at a time.
In 2010, just under 70% of the soluble coffee consumed in
importing countries was processed into soluble coffee in
those countries. The corresponding fi gure in 2000 was 83%,
which suggests that producing countries may be seeing
a signifi cant increase in their share of the soluble coffee
market in importing countries. Imports of soluble coffee
are often referred to as offshore powder. Consumption of
instant coffee in producing countries themselves varies
considerably. In the Philippines and Thailand instant
coffee accounts for around 95% of coffee consumption.
In Brazil, the largest exporter of soluble coffee, domestic
consumption of instant coffee only accounts for around 5%
of overall coffee consumption. In India most soluble coffee
is also exported, although it does account for around 35% of
local consumption. In Mexico the fi gure is about 47%.