A cup of coffee is a revered part of many people’s morning rituals. Whether it’s a cup with friends or work day savior, over 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed daily and the global coffee market was valued at a staggering USD 465.9 billion in the year 2020!
Since October 1 marks International Coffee Day, we wanted to share some background on the process of coffee production, where coffee is produced in the world, and the unexpected but important role of agronomics in coffee quality and production.
Understanding the Coffee Production Process
While a delicious cup of joe might magically appear out of a coffee pot each morning, there’s an interesting backstory on the beans and how they make it into our cups. From plant to brew, they go through a fascinating ten-step process.
- Planting: Coffee trees are shrub-like plants that were domesticated in Ethiopia. They grow from a coffee bean – an unroasted one, of course! Coffee plant cultivation involves planting in beds, protecting seedlings from direct sunlight, and watering frequently.
- Harvesting: Coffee trees can take three to four years to bear fruit. Called coffee cherries, the fruit of coffee trees are bright red when ripe and often require hand-picking due to ripening time variability. In some places, particularly where the plantations are flat and large, harvesting has been mechanized. Cherries can either be picked by stripping all the fruit off an entire branch at once, or individually based on their ripeness. Typically, there is one main harvest of coffee cherries per year.
- Processing: Cherries are processed quickly after harvesting to avoid spoilage. Processing can be done using a dry method or a wet method, depending on local resources. The dry method involves spreading freshly picked cherries on large surfaces to dry in the sun and raking them throughout the day. The wet method removes the coffee cherry pulp to dry the cherries with only the parchment skin. The cherries travel through a pulping machine to separate the skin from the pulp, and then the beans are separated by weight as they sink or float in water channels. Heavy, flavorful fruits will sink. After being separated by rotating drums, the beans are fermented in water.
- Drying: After 12 to 48 hours, wet method processed beans must be rinsed and dried. Beans are sun-dried or machine-dried in large tumblers until they reach 11% moisture.
- Milling: The milling of coffee cherries is a multi-step, pre-export process. Wet or dry processed coffee is hulled to remove the parchment layer or the entire dried husk from the cherries. Polishing may be done to remove any remaining silver skin. Then, beans are sorted and graded by size, weight, color flaws, and imperfections. Beans can be sorted using air jets to separate beans by weight. Defective beans are removed.
- Exporting: The beans are ready for international travel. They’re loaded onto ships in shipping or plastic-lined containers.
- Tasting: Coffee tasting, or “cupping”, is done by professionals looking for bean visual quality, aroma, and taste. Beans are roasted in a small roaster, then ground and infused for the copper to smell and taste. Coffees are evaluated to blend different beans or build the right roast.
- Roasting: Beans are roasted to convert them from green coffee into aromatic beans that are ground and used to make that cup of joe. Beans are roasted at about 550 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the beans reach 400 degrees, the oil inside the beans begins to emerge and creates the well-known coffee flavor and aroma. Beans are cooled by air or water. Once roasted, beans are on the clock for reaching the consumer. Once roasted, beans are on the clock for reaching the consumer.
- Grinding: Beans are then ground to the appropriate coarseness for the intended brewing method. The finer the grind, the more quickly coffee should be prepared.
Coffee Around the World
Coffee has as diverse growing locations as it does drinking locations. Over 50 countries around the world produce coffee, though the ideal location for coffee cultivation is along the Equatorial zone, between latitudes 25 degrees North and 30 degrees South. This area is referred to as “The Bean Belt”. Different varieties of coffee thrive at different altitudes, in different soils, and at different temperatures.
Guatemala, Costa Rica, Columbia, Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Ivory Coast, Yemen, Indonesia, Hawaii, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Vietnam all have notable coffee production. Coffee from different areas produces different flavors and aromas.
Hawaiian coffee takes advantage of good rains, black volcanic soils, and tropical clouds to provide a rich, aromatic, medium-bodied coffee. In Puerto Rico, two major growing regions produce coffee with a balanced body and acidity and a fruity aroma. Indonesia is known for fine-aged coffees with a deeper body and less acidity. Vietnamese coffee plant cultivation happens on small plantations but the country is quickly becoming a major coffee production powerhouse. Much Vietnamese coffee is used for blending due to its mild body and light acidity.
The quality and flavor of coffee are dependent on many variables. Plant variety and genetics, soil, climate, rainfall, sunlight or shade, altitude, and nutrient inputs all change the characteristics of coffee. For example, Guatemalan coffee grown at altitudes of 4500 feet is described as “strictly hard beans” and has a unique spicy or chocolatey complexity. Yemeni coffee cultivation happens in areas where water is sparse and the beans tend to be small and irregularly shaped, with a deep, rich, distinctive flavor.
The Agronomics Behind the “Cup of Joe”
Coffee plant cultivation requires agronomic expertise. Soil type, rainfall, shade trees, nutritional regime, pruning, and plant disease all contribute to the success or failure of coffee production. Let’s dive deeper into the factors that influence how coffee is grown and how Agmatix tools can assist in optimizing these conditions for better yields and sustainability.
What affects coffee production?
Coffee plants are sensitive to many environmental and agronomic factors, each playing a critical role in determining the quality and quantity of the crop. Here are the key elements that influence coffee production:
- Soil Health and Fertility
Coffee thrives in deep, well-drained soils, often of volcanic origin. Poorly drained soils or soils with solid rock near the surface fail to meet the plant’s needs. Soil must handle high rainfall effectively to prevent runoff, redox in the rootzone, and toxicity due to low pH, to minimize nutrient loss.
One of the biggest challenges for coffee growers is fertilizer leaching—the loss of essential nutrients due to excess water. In regions with high rainfall, this requires intentional management for sustainability. This is where Agmatix’s Digital Crop Advisor becomes a valuable tool, offering customized fertilization plans that optimize nutrient use based on soil conditions and moisture levels, preventing nutrient loss while enhancing plant health. - Water and Irrigation Management
Water distribution is critical for coffee production. Excessive moisture can lead to vegetative overgrowth and reduced fruiting, while a brief dry spell can help synchronize the cropping cycle. When natural rainfall is insufficient, irrigation systems must be employed to meet the plants’ needs.
Coffee growers can use Agmatix’s Digital Crop Advisor to calculate the precise water requirements for their crops, based on local climate data and soil moisture conditions. This helps avoid over-irrigation, which can damage roots and waste resources. The Agmatix Sustainability Center also assists in monitoring water use, ensuring a sustainable balance between crop health and resource efficiency. - Shade and Wind Protection
In regions where the climate is too warm for optimal coffee growth, shade trees are being used to regulate temperature and radiation that leads to an increase in fruit quality and prevent overbearing of the trees, especially when fertilizer resources are limited. Shade-grown coffee is a common practice in tropical regions to maintain plant health.
Coffee trees are also highly susceptible to wind damage, which can cause leaves and even ripe cherries to be torn from the tree. Windbreaks are often necessary to shield the plants from harsh winds. Proper management of these factors ensures a healthy coffee crop. - Plant Nutrition
During the first five years of a coffee plant’s life, proper nutrition is essential to encourage vigorous root and leaf development. Young trees have high phosphorus requirements, which support root growth, while older trees need balanced nutrition to sustain their leaves, stems, roots, and fruit production.
In plantation systems, pruned wood and fallen leaves return some nutrients to the soil. However, nutrient loss through leaching, erosion, or volatilization is common, particularly in tropical regions with high rainfall. Growers can apply fertilizers either through irrigation systems or by hand. Using Agmatix’s Digital Crop Advisor, coffee producers can develop customized nutrient management plans, ensuring that nutrients are applied at the right time and in the right amounts, tailored to the age and growth stage of the trees. - Pest and Disease Management
Pests and diseases are ongoing challenges in coffee production. Weeds like morning glory and bitter melon can compete for nutrients, while pests such as green scale reduce the plant’s ability to photosynthesize by covering the leaves in sooty mold. Biological control methods, such as the introduction of white halo fungus, help manage these pests in a sustainable way.
Coffee is also vulnerable to fungal diseases like coffee leaf rust, which causes yellow-orange lesions on leaves, reducing the plant’s ability to produce high-quality cherries. Diseases such as coffee berry disease and Cercospora leaf spot pose additional threats. Managing these conditions requires a careful balance of agronomic practices, and using Agmatix’s agronomic data insights, growers can monitor and respond to these threats more effectively. - Climate Sensitivity
Coffee plants are especially sensitive to changes in climate. Variations in light exposure, altitude, temperature, and carbon dioxide levels can significantly impact both the quality and yield of coffee beans. Warmer climates may result in more vegetative growth, but they often reduce the quality of the coffee cherries.
Through Agmatix’s RegenIQ framework, growers can track and adjust their agronomic practices based on real-time climate data, helping them respond to these challenges and sustain high-quality coffee production, despite fluctuating climate conditions.
By understanding and managing these factors with the help of data-driven tools like the Agmatix Digital Crop Advisor and the Sustainability Center, coffee growers can optimize both productivity and sustainability, ensuring that the coffee in your cup is grown with the highest attention to quality and environmental stewardship.
Sustainable Production and Improved Quality with Agmatix
Coffee crop cultivation can be a challenge! Between pests, disease, climate sensitivity, and meeting plant nutrition needs, attaining high yields and good quality cherries can feel very difficult. The good news is that crop management software can help collect data and support decision-making for the most productive, most sustainable crop possible.
Agmatix is an agro-informatics company dedicated to transforming data into insights. For coffee growers, the Digital Crop Advisor platform can help optimize crop nutrition management, customize fertilization planning, and monitor sustainability KPIs of nutrition plans and agronomic practices.
Our Digital Crop Advisor is a decision support system with scientifically proven data to inform specific crop protocol management. Insights are based on over 150 crops and crop-essential nutrients, and multi-device support makes it easy to optimize crop nutrition with the planning tool.
The Digital Crop Advisor also simplifies coffee nutrient management with seamless crop nutrition optimization plans through a customized fertilization planning tool. It’s key to meet coffee plant nutrition needs, but those needs may differ based on plant age, growth stage, climate, and more. Because fertilizer for coffee plants has a risk of leaching, especially in certain soil types, precise and well-timed applications are key. Digital Crop Advisor makes balancing meeting coffee plant nutrition needs with protecting the environment easier than ever before.
Agronomic data insights are available through the analysis of aggregated and standardized data. Both legacy and ongoing research data can be visualized and analyzed to support decision-making. Agmatix also makes it easy to harness the expertise of advisors and researchers through a collaboration wizard.
Understanding the environmental impact of decision-making in coffee cultivation can be challenging. The Digital Crop Advisor allows users to monitor sustainability KPIs such as carbon footprint and nitrogen leaching. Integrated support of lab analysis is supported, and the customized fertilization planning tool helps producers understand the environmental impact of nutrient recommendations before they are used on the plantation.
Agmatix’s Sustainability Center delivers recommended regenerative pratices that reduce the environmental footprint of coffee production. Integrated within the center is the RegenIQ framework, a comprehensive approach designed to enhance agricultural sustainability. This framework adapts to local environmental conditions while maintaining global consistency, enabling agronomists and coffee growers to make informed decisions that optimize fertilizer use, improve soil health, and promote water conservation—all while ensuring productive and high-quality coffee yields.
Coffee production has a significant environmental impact, and coffee trees are especially sensitive to climate change. Factors like light exposure, altitude, water stress, temperature, carbon dioxide, and nutrient management all influence coffee quality. Utilizing tools like Agmatix’s Digital Crop Advisor, together with the Sustainability Center to scale the RegenIQ framework, creates a win-win—boosting production, enhancing quality, and ensuring sustainable coffee cultivation for the future of a great brew.
Ready to elevate your coffee production with sustainable practices? Explore Agmatix’s tools and the RegenIQ framework today to ensure a productive, high-quality future. Contact us to get started.
