HOW BRAZIL IS CAPITALISING ON INSTANT COFFEE BOOM
As inflation drives up global coffee prices, cheaper robusta beans are in hot demand — and Brazil may be the market to supply it. Although the production of robusta traditionally falls largely on leading supplier Vietnam, farmers there have not been able to increase output fast enough to meet soaring consumer demand. While its production plateaus, the world’s second biggest robusta grower is picking up speed. Brazil’s output is expected to reach a new high this year, with the US Department of Agriculture forecasting its robusta production will climb 5 per cent this year as Vietnam inches lower. “Brazil has plenty of room to increase coffee production by converting pastures into robusta crops,” said Fernando Maximiliano, an analyst at StoneX Financial in Sao Paulo. “Vietnam has no room to expand.” Robusta coffee, used widely to make instant coffee such as Nestle's Nescafe brands or as a blend in espressos, was once seen as a poorer alternative to higher-end arabica beans, which are ...