Coffee is the second most heavily traded commodity in the world, after oil.
Americans drink an estimated 320 million cups of coffee each day 20 percent of the world s coffee imports and 25 percent of all the coffee grown in the world. Seventy percent of that coffee is grown by small farmers in rural regions of some of the world s poorest countries. These farmers never see most of the profits reaped by coffee middlemen and merchants. In addition, coffee prices are constantly fluctuating on world markets, making coffee farmers particularly susceptible rip-offs and manipulation. Small, independent farmers may receive as little as one-fourth of the world market price for their coffee.