Brazil is world-famous for arabica coffee and now it is looking forward to claiming the title of robusta beans used in espresso and instant brews. Vietnam is currently the world’s top robusta grower and Brazil is trying to gain this title because the country’s producers are quickly adopting new technologies for boosting production.
In addition, downing currency in the South American country is also surging the exports priced in dollars. Rondonia state in Brazil is planting new robusta tree varieties that can produce 200 bags to 300 bags per hectare in a year.
A large amount of water supply in coffee production is also boosting the output of robusta coffee in Brazil. An aging Vietnamese tree number is keeping production of coffee close to 50 bags per hectare. A bag weigh up to 60 kilograms. Brazil’s robusta production is expected to surge 75% in the 2019-20 crop year as compared to 2017. This is also increasing the production of commercial coffee machines to serve consumers. Brazil is outpacing Vietnam’s growth of 14% over the period.
As Brazil is looking forward to making its dominance in robusta coffee production, it could be bad news for producers in the rest of the world.
The country is increasing production for the falling currency and it is helping both major coffee varieties as robusta has reached the lowest price since 2008. The low prices are pushing farmers to do this business at a high level in Central America and other areas where costs are higher and currency is holding better against the dollar.
