Economy
The Economics of Coffee in One Chart
Breaking Down the Economics of Coffee
What goes into your morning cup of coffee, and what makes it possible?
The obvious answer might be coffee beans, but when you start to account for additional costs, the scope of a massive $200+ billion coffee supply chain becomes clear.
From the labor of growing, exporting, and roasting the coffee plants to the materials like packaging, cups, and even stir sticks, there are many underlying costs that factor into every cup of coffee consumed.
The above graphic breaks down the costs incurred by retail coffee production for one pound of coffee, equivalent to about 15 cups of 16 ounce brewed coffee.
The Difficulty of Pricing Coffee
Measuring and averaging out a global industry is a complicated ordeal.
Not only do global coffee prices constantly fluctuate, but each country also has differences in availability, relative costs, and the final price of a finished product.
That’s why a cup of 16 oz brewed coffee in the U.S. doesn’t cost the same in the U.K., or Japan, or anywhere else in the world. Even within countries, the differences of a company’s access to wholesale beans will dictate the final price.
To counteract these discrepancies, today’s infographic above uses figures sourced from the Specialty Coffee Association which are illustrative but based on the organization’s Benchmarking Report and Coffee Price Report.
What they end up with is an estimated set price of $2.80 for a brewed cup of coffee at a specialty coffee store. Each store and indeed each country will see a different price, but that gives us the foundation to start backtracking and breaking down the total costs.
From Growing Beans to Exporting Bags
To make coffee, you must have the right conditions to grow it.
The two major types of coffee, Arabica and Robusta, are produced primarily in subequatorial countries. The plants originated in Ethiopia, were first grown in Yemen in the 1600s, then spread around the world by way of European colonialism.
Today, Brazil is far and away the largest producer and exporter of coffee, with Vietnam the only other country accounting for a double-digit percentage of global production.
Country | Coffee Production (60kg bags) | Share of Global Coffee Production |
---|---|---|
Brazil | 64,875,000 | 37.5% |
Vietnam | 30,024,000 | 17.4% |
Colombia | 13,858,000 | 8.0% |
Indonesia | 9,618,000 | 5.6% |
Ethiopia | 7,541,000 | 4.4% |
Honduras | 7,328,000 | 4.2% |
India | 6,002,000 | 3.5% |
Uganda | 4,704,000 | 2.7% |
Peru | 4,263,000 | 2.5% |
Other | 24,629,000 | 14.2% |
How much money do growers make on green coffee beans? With prices constantly fluctuating each year, they can range from below $0.50/lb in 2001 to above $2.10/lb in 2011.
But if you’re looking for the money in coffee, you won’t find it at the source. Fairtrade estimates that 125 million people worldwide depend on coffee for their livelihoods, but many of them are unable to earn a reliable living from it.
Instead, one of the biggest profit margins is made by the companies exporting the coffee. In 2018 the ICO Composite price (which tracks both Arabica and Robusta coffee prices) averaged $1.09/lb, while the SCA lists exporters as charging a price of $3.24/lb for green coffee.
Roasting Economics
Roasters might be charged $3.24/lb for green coffee beans from exporters, but that’s far from the final price they pay.
First, beans have to be imported, adding shipping and importer fees that add $0.31/lb. Once the actual roasting begins, the cost of labor and certification and the inevitable losses along the way add an additional $1.86/lb before general business expenses.
By the end of it, roasters see a total illustrated cost of $8.73/lb.
Roaster Economics | ($/lb) |
---|---|
Sales Price | $9.40 |
Total Cost | $8.73 |
Pre-tax Profit | $0.67 |
Taxes | $0.23 |
Net Profit | $0.44 |
Net Profit (%) | 7.1% |
When it comes time for their profit margin, roasters quote a selling price of around $9.40/lb. After taxes, roasters see a net profit of roughly $0.44/lb or 7.1%.
Retail Margins
For consumers purchasing quality, roasted coffee beans directly through distributors, seeing a 1lb bag of roasted whole coffee for $14.99 and higher is standard. Retailers, however, are able to access coffee closer to the stated wholesale prices and add their own costs to the equation.
One pound of roasted coffee beans will translate into about 15 cups of 16 ounce (475 ml) brewed coffee for a store. At a price of $2.80/cup, that translates into a yield of $42.00/lb of coffee.
That doesn’t sound half bad until you start to factor in the costs. Material costs include the coffee itself, the cups and lids (often charged separately), the stir sticks and even the condiments. After all, containers of half-and-half and ground cinnamon don’t pay for themselves.
Factoring them all together equals a retail material cost of $13.00/lb. That still leaves a healthy gross profit of $29.00/lb, but running a retail store is an expensive business. Add to that the costs of operations, including labor, leasing, marketing, and administrative costs, and the total costs quickly ramp up to $35.47/lb.
In fact, when accounting for additional costs for interest and taxes, the SCA figures give retailers a net profit of $2.90/lb or 6.9%, slightly less than that of roasters.
A Massive Global Industry
Coffee production is a big industry for one reason: coffee consumption is truly a universal affair with 2.3 million cups of coffee consumed globally every minute. By total volume sales, coffee is the fourth most-consumed beverage in the world.
That makes the retail side of the market a major factor. Dominated by companies like Nestlé and Jacobs Douwe Egberts, global retail coffee sales in 2017 reached $83 billion, with an average yearly expenditure of $11 per capita globally.
Of course, some countries are bigger coffee drinkers than others. The largest global consumers by tonnage are the U.S. and Brazil (despite also being the largest producer and exporter), but per capita consumption is significantly higher in European countries like Norway and Switzerland.
The next time you sip your coffee, consider the multilayered and vast global supply chain that makes it all possible.
Economy
The Most Valuable Companies in Major EU Economies
From semiconductor equipment manufacturers to supercar makers, the EU’s most valuable companies run the gamut of industries.
Most Valuable Companies in the EU, by Country
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
In this graphic, we mapped out the most valuable corporations in 11 major EU economies, based on their market capitalizations as of April 15th, 2024. All figures are in USD, and were sourced from Companiesmarketcap.com.
Novo Nordisk is currently worth more than $550 billion, making it Europe’s most valuable company by a wide margin. The pharmaceutical giant specializes in diabetes and weight-loss drugs. Demand for two of them, Ozempic and Wegovy, has surged due to their weight-loss capabilities, even causing nationwide shortages in the United States.
The following table includes an expanded list of the most valuable publicly-traded company in larger EU economies. Many of these were not included in the graphic due to space limitations.
Country | Company | Sector | Market Cap |
---|---|---|---|
🇩🇰 Denmark | 💊 Novo Nordisk | Pharmaceuticals | $562B |
🇫🇷 France | 👜 LVMH | Luxury Goods | $422B |
🇳🇱 Netherlands | 🔧 ASML | Semiconductor Equipment | $382B |
🇩🇪 Germany | 💼 SAP | Enterprise Software | $214B |
🇮🇪 Ireland | 🖥️ Accenture | IT Services | $197B |
🇪🇸 Spain | 👗 Inditex | Retail | $147B |
🇧🇪 Belgium | 🍻 Anheuser-Busch InBev | Beverages | $116B |
🇸🇪 Sweden | 🛠️ Atlas Copco | Industrial Equipment | $80B |
🇮🇹 Italy | 🏎️ Ferrari | Automotive | $76B |
🇫🇮 Finland | 🏦 Nordea Bank | Banking | $40B |
🇦🇹 Austria | 🔌 Verbund AG | Energy | $26B |
🇱🇺 Luxembourg | 🏗️ Tenaris | Oil & Gas Equipment | $22B |
🇨🇿 Czech Republic | 💡 CEZ Group | Energy | $20B |
🇵🇱 Poland | ⛽ PKN Orlen | Energy | $20B |
🇵🇹 Portugal | 🔌 EDP Group | Energy | $16B |
🇬🇷 Greece | 🏦 Eurobank | Banking | $7B |
🇭🇺 Hungary | ⛽ MOL Group | Energy | $7B |
🇭🇷 Croatia | 🏦 Zagrebacka Banka | Banking | $6B |
🇷🇴 Romania | ⛽ Romgaz | Energy | $4B |
🇸🇮 Slovenia | 💊 Krka | Pharmaceuticals | $4B |
Note: Figures are rounded and last updated on April 15th, 2024. Countries with top publicly-traded companies worth under $4 billion are excluded.
Luxury supergiant LVMH—which owns brands like Tiffany, Christian Dior, and TAG Heuer to name a few—is Europe’s second largest company by market cap, at $420 billion.
Rounding out the top three is ASML, which produces equipment crucial to chip manufacturers, worth $380 billion.
When looking at the region, there is a vast disparity between EU member states and their most valuable companies.
For example, as mentioned earlier, Denmark’s Novo Nordisk and France’s LVMH are worth between $400-550 billion each. Meanwhile, some countries don’t even have a single publicly-listed company that is worth over $1 billion.
In fact, only 12 EU countries (less than half of the union) are home to the top 100 most valuable companies within the bloc. An additional four countries are represented if you look at the list of the top 200 companies.
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